Oslo’s historic Frognerseteren Restaurant and its busy café were back in business this week, scrubbed and cleared by local health authorities. They’d tied the restaurant to an ongoing outbreak of the hepatitis-A virus, and now Oslo’s blood bank is also taking steps to prevent blood donors from spreading the virus further.
The restaurant is best-known for its classic timber architecture, traditional food and sweeping views over the Norwegian capital. It ran into trouble earlier this month, though, when Oslo health authorities found a common link among local residents falling ill with the hepatitis A virus: All had eaten at Frognerseteren earlier this summer.
The number of confirmed cases is now over 30 and likely to keep climbing, since an estimated 20,000 people visited the restaurant between mid-June and August 1, when the restaurant voluntarily closed. Not only was eating at the restaurant a common link among those infected with hepatitis, food safety officials from the state agency Mattilsynet had shown up for a surprise inspection.
The state regulators were alarmed by what they found. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) ran photos from Mattilsynet (external link to NRK, in Norwegian) of a filthy vent over a cooking area, a pot of chocolate warming up next to dirty dishes and a sink where employees washed their hands, and mildew growing on the ceiling and walls of a storage room. The inspectors also reported that the storage/technical room was full of spiders and dirty utensils, and claimed that they’d observed how workers in the kitchen failed to wash their hands with soap.
Restaurant manager Stig Furuseth quickly apologized for the situation and told NRK that all violations found had been corrected. He claimed that the absence of regular staff during the summer holidays and temporary personnel hired in to replace them had resulted in “internal routines not being followed well enough.” He said last week that all of the restaurant’s permanent employees were now back at work “and we can guarantee that all routines will be followed to their fullest.”
The restaurant, a local landmark for the past 134 years, could thus reopen two weeks after the violations were confirmed. Furuseth claimed it had been “a demanding time, but we have used it to make sure that Frognerseteren is now safer than ever.” He said all employees had been vaccinated against hepatitis and cleared by health officials, that all food on hand had been destroyed and that the entire restaurant had undergone a thorough cleaning aimed at preventing infection.
Health officials remain concerned that more people will fall ill, however, because of the virus’ long incubation time. While news of the hepatitis outbreak has spread in Oslo and around the country, the local health officials are also concerned about visitors from abroad who may have eaten at Frognerseteren this summer and taken the virus home with them. They’re difficult to track down and warn.
The Oslo Blood Bank, meanwhile, is taking steps to stem further infection locally through blood transfusions. They’re asking all their blood donors in Oslo to contact them if they’d eaten at Frognerseteren between June 15 and August 2 this year. Since it can take up to six weeks from the time of infection until those infected fall ill, the blood bank wants donors who have visited Frognerseteren to wait at least six weeks since their visit before donating blood.
Any blood donors who have contracted the virus, or live with someone who’s infected with hepatitis, must wait more than six months before giving blood again.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
