Reports of food poisoning linked to a food truck are being investigated at a music festival in England
Several people said on social media that they fell ill after eating at the Yorky Roast stall at Truck Festival in Oxfordshire. Symptoms include sickness, diarrhea, and vomiting but there are no test results yet to indicate any specific infection
The local council is looking into the incident, but it is unclear how many people were sick
A spokesperson for Vale of White Horse District Council said:”Truck Festival reported the issue to us and said that a number of festivalgoers reported food poisoning symptoms to the medical tent
“From this, after some investigations, they were able to quickly identify a potentiale issue and are working with the food business, Truck Festival, UKHSA and the trader’s own local registering authority.”
Festival food challengesThe Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) said the incident serves as a reminder for food businesses and consumers to be vigilant when attending outdoor events in summer, especially when hot temperatures can impact refrigerator operations, and infections can spread quickly to large numbers of customers in a short space of time. CIEH is the professional body for environmental health, representing 7,000 members
Hannah Ward, a CIEH member who specializes in festival and mobile catering inspections, said such cases highlight the importance of maintaining high standards of food hygiene and temperature control at festivals and other large-scale events
“It also highlights the importance of site facilities such as customer handwashing provisions which is often lacking at festivals, with customers having to rely on alcohol hand sanitizer for multiple days which is not suitable for heavily soiled hands,” she said
“Food businesses operating at temporary events have the same legal responsibilities as any other food business, to place safe food on the market, however they must do so in variable and challenging conditions. Responsibilities include ensuring food ises, and handled by appropriately trained staff.”
CIEH adviceWard said event organizers need to provide adequate site facilities to vendors such as water supply, waste management, power, and camping facilities
“Festival environments can present additional challenges, including hot weather, temporary kitchen facilities, high customer volumes and limited storage and operational space. Food operators must ensure they have suitable systems in place to manage these risks and that food safety procedures are rigorously followed throughout the event.”
CIEH advice includes keeping high-risk foods chilled below 8 degrees C (46.4 degrees F), preventing cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods, and keeping detailed records of suppliers, temperature monitoring and cleaning procedures
The group also said event organizers should have an outbreak management plan, including surveillance and questionnaires carried out by trained professionals
A spokesperson for Truck Festival said: “Our health and safety team launched an immediate investigation and identified a third-party food vendor as the suspectedf the first report
“We reported our findings to the local environmental health officer the same day and are supporting their ongoing investigation into the cause. We share the disappointment and frustration of those whose weekend was affected.”
