Michelin-starred chef jailed for serving raw norovirus-infected clams to wedding guests, causing diarrhea and vomiting
12 March 2024, 17:30 | Updated: 12 March 2024, 17:37
A Michelin-starred chef has been sentenced to almost three months in prison after serving raw clams infected with norovirus to more than 50 guests at a wedding banquet.
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Marco Sacco, 59, who runs the Piccolo Lago di Verbania restaurant near Lake Maggiore, served up a borage risotto topped with the raw clams to guests at a wedding in 2021.
Attendees quickly complained of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomarch pains. Some said they also checked themselves into hospital.
The Verbania court ruled that he and the restaurant manager Raffaella Marchetti were guilty of culpable negligence and trading harmful foodstuffs.
Nicknamed "the freshwater chef", Sacco was handed a prison sentence totalling two months and 20 days.
The pair have been ordered to pay €20,000 in damages as well as €8,000 to the wedded couple, and a further €250 each to the 53 guests.
The norovirus-infected clams were imported from France by an Italian company and were transported within a sealed packet, the Carabinieri said.
Norovirus is a vomiting bug that can cause diarrhoea and serious headaches but usually goes away after two or so days.
Ahead of his final sentence, prosecutors argued that Sacco should serve eight months in jail and pay €100,000 in damages. The plaintiff's lawyer said they were content with his final sentence, however.
Sacco said he would appeal against the sentence and vowed that he would not give up cooking.
He also claimed the clams were contaminated prior to entering his kitchen, and therefore the supplier should be held responsible, rather than himself.
"Next week we will reopen after the winter break here on the lake,” he told Italian paper Corriere della Sera.
“We have a spectacular new menu," added Sacco, who also runs the Michelin-starred restaurant Piano35 on the top of the Sanpaolo skyscraper in Turin.
Raw dishes such as tartare and raw oysters, mussels, and other shellfish are popular among Italian cuisine.
But the guests' grim experience with nausea following the raw clam incident may now turn many off the food following the intense media interest within the country.
