The wedding meal had turned into a fiasco.
Italian chef Marco Sacco was sentenced on Friday March 8 to a suspended prison sentence of 2 months and 20 days, as well as more than 20,000 euros in compensation to be paid to the victims, after he served inedible clams at a wedding meal in 2021, reports La Repubblica.
The 59-year-old chef hosted a sumptuous wedding banquet in July 2021 in his two-star restaurant, which overlooks Lake Mergozzo in Verbania in Piedmont (Italy).
For the occasion, he served the guests a clam risotto which turned out to be contaminated with norovirus, a virus which causes gastroenteritis.
A total of 53 people were poisoned, including the bride and groom.
An identical supplier since 2015
The chef defended himself by asserting that he had served 3,000 similar dishes in the past and that there had never been a problem, in particular because, he added, the procedures planned to avoid food poisoning had been scrupulously monitored.
Speaking to the specialist magazine Il Gusto, this Italian declared: “The menu included borage risotto and raw clams.
We purchased these clams which can be eaten raw, as indicated on the manufacturer's label and product data sheet.
These are clams that I have been using since 2015. Since I have had this supplier, I have served more than three thousand dishes of this type.
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The room director also sentenced
Justifications which were not enough and the Verbania court therefore sentenced Marco Sacco to 2 months and 20 days in prison, suspended for injuries caused by negligence and trade in harmful foodstuffs.
This sentence will not be recorded in his criminal record.
He will also have to pay the sum of 4,000 euros in compensation to each of the bride and groom, as well as 250 euros to each person contaminated during the meal, which represents a total amount of 21,250 euros.
The room manager, Raffaella Marchetti, was also sentenced to the same suspended prison sentence.
The prosecutor had requested an eight-month prison sentence for the two defendants.
Additional damages could be payable to the injured bride and groom, in particular to cover their legal costs; a subsequent hearing will have to rule on this point.