Dining out at a restaurant can be such a fun way for families to connect and do something a little different that allows good conversation and hopefully delicious food. If you’re headed somewhere new, you always run the risk that someone in your group might not be too keen on what they’re served, especially when you’re with kids. Such was the case for some young restaurant patrons in Australia, only it wasn’t a simple case of them being a bit too fussy. Two sisters were eating out with their family when they were served a pink-colored liquid that was supposed to be juice but ended up being insect repellent. Dangerous and disgusting!
In June 2024, Marcus and Michele Lemin took their two tweens, Hannah and her sister, Olivia, to Miky’s Italian Fushion Restaurant in Perth, Australia, and the two girls drank insect repellent after being served citronella instead of cranberry juice, Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
As the girls tried to enjoy their meal, they told their parents the cranberry juice tasted like they’d been “poisoned” and they both spat out their drinks. “I said, ‘Don’t be silly,’ and took the glass, and I went to gulp it down and spat it out,” Michele Lemin told ABC.
Marcus Lemin admits that after he smelled the girls’ drinks, he ran up to the front counter and demanded to see for himself what bottle his daughters were served from, ABC reported. At first, the restaurant staff member tried to convince the concerned father it was just “old cranberry juice,” but it turned out to be pink-colored citronella torch and lamp oil solution, which is used to fight off flying insects, per the news outlet.
After receiving advice from the poisons information center, the family rushed to Perth Children’s Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Michelle Lemin told ABC that her daughters said their stomachs were burning, their fingers and hands were tingling, and they both had a headache.
According to News.com.au, Hannah and Olivia were hospitalized for six hours after this incident and the restaurant owner was fined in court for $40,000 AUD, or about $28,000 US.
This incident sparked a Department of Health investigation, and the former owner of the business was found guilty of selling food that was unsafe, failing to exercise due diligence, and two related charges, per ABC. The restaurant owner, Michele Angiuli, no longer works in hospitality, according to the news outlet.
The girls’ mother called this experience “just awful” and said she hopes that “everyone in the hospitality industry learns from this so it doesn’t happen again,” News.com.au reported. We wholeheartedly second that!
