A health minister’s wife and her friend thought they were “going to die” when they were accidentally served poisonous margaritas during a night out.
Kara Lamond, whose husband is NSW Health Minister Ryan Park, and a friend were served toxic drinks at the Fraternity Club in Illawarra in October 2023.
The women were rushed to hospital moments after taking the first sips and Ms Lamond’s friend suffered burns to her lips, mouth and throat.
Caustic soda had accidentally been used instead of cocktail salt to encrust the rim of the glasses.
Five days earlier, a gardener had attempted to unclog a drain at the bar using what he thought was Drano from an unlabeled, uncovered container under the sink.
However, the container was used to store cocktail salt and when it was finished, the gardener refilled it with caustic soda, a poisonous chemical used for cleaning.
Nathan Sloan, a lawyer acting on behalf of the New South Wales Food Authority, told Wollongong Local Court on Friday that the whole situation was “highly avoidable”.
“If they had taken a drink, who knows what would have happened,” he said. The Telegraph newspaper reported.
Kara Lamond, whose husband is NSW Health Minister Ryan Park (pictured together), and a friend were given toxic drinks at the Fraternity Club in the Illawarra in October 2023.
Both women needed urgent medical attention within minutes of taking their first sips, as their lips, mouth and throat began to burn.
Mr. Sloan added that the Fraternity Club failed to take “the most basic and preventable measures,” resulting in this “systematic failure.”
The gardener who accidentally laced the cocktail salt with caustic soda lacked “basic food training” but was assigned the task anyway due to staff shortages, Sloan said.
Representing the club in court, Rajiv Baldeo admitted that “there was clearly a failure” that led to the women being served poisoned margaritas.
Magistrate Les Mabbutt said the case was a Example of a ‘system that didn’t work’.
“The two women were clearly looking forward to drinking together, but instead needed medical treatment and a trip to hospital,” Mabbutt said.
The club, through its chief executive Glenn Ward, pleaded guilty to selling unsafe food, handling food in a way that could make it unsafe and two counts of failing to comply with the food standards code.
The women’s lips, mouths and throats were burned because caustic soda, not cocktail salt, was used on the rim of their margarita glasses.
The club, through its chief executive, pleaded guilty to selling unsafe food, handling food in a way that could render it unsafe and two counts of breaching the food standards code.
Mr Mabbutt said Mr Ward’s “remorse and contrition” were enough to convince him that the same mistake “will not happen again”.
“(The Fraternity Club) is a good corporate citizen. It has been in operation for many, many years and this is the first time it has been taken to court over a matter of this nature,” he said.
The club was fined $29,500 and also had to pay half of the Department of Primary Industry’s professional costs of $18,000.
Sale Unsafe food was the club’s most serious allegation and, had it been heard in a higher court, the maximum fine would have been $275,000.
However, the local court’s jurisdictional limit was only $10,000.
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