A annual part of WAMBO was cut short on Friday evening.
Reports say the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit shut down the Knights of Columbus chicken dinner in Wallaceburg because of health concerns, more specifically the temperature of the chicken being too warm.
According to reports, half of the 600 dinners prepared were thrown in the trash.
We have yet to speak with officials with the K of C to get their comment.
E-mails sent late this evening to the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent have yet to be answered.
One person who attended the barbecue on Friday, who asked to not be named, told us they had no issues with their meal.
“We got our dinner before it got shut down by the Board of Health,” the person said. “We had already eaten and left there, then we kept hearing about it on the street. All we know for sure is that there was some problem with the chicken and some people were saying it was because the chicken was not cold enough.”
The person added: “It was too bad it had to happen, but hey, if the chicken was being held at too high a temp for too long, lots of people could have gotten sick, or worse.”
Apparently, the Public Health Unit was not just speaking with the K of C.
Patrick Davis, the chief of staff for MP Bev Shipley, said the Health Unit was in touch with them on Friday afternoon.
Davis said he received a telephone call from a Health Unit officer about new regulations they would have to follow on Sunday (Aug. 10) when they hold a community barbecue after the interdenominational church service at WAMBO.
Davis said some of the requirements included: cleaning all surfaces with a solution which is 20 parts per million bleach; have multiple meat thermometers to ensure burgers are cooked to a specific temperature; and once cooked, the burgers cannot be placed in anything but stainless steel chaffing dishes.
We’ll provide more information on this story when it becomes available.
Here are some photos we snapped at the dinner, before it got shut down:
