Contaminated food warning mistaken for computer virus
by ivy on May 29th, 2001 An e-mail alerting staff at a German internet firm about contaminated food was ignored because they thought it was a computer virus warning.
It was issued by management after they were contacted by an Italian restaurant that had provided a contaminated tuna salad to several staff members.
But staff ignored the 'Watch out for the tuna fish' message which popped up on their computer screens. As a result five workers at the Berlin firm needed hospital treatment.
They had bought the tuna salad and taken it back to work to eat before restaurant staff realised there was a problem with it .
"About half an hour after eating it the first staff members developed red spots on their faces and they suddenly got really hot and felt terrible," said company spokesman Pascal Bazzazi.
The local health authority took a sample of the salad for analysis. It concluded that, although the tuna was fine, the dressing had been made from old eggs.
