Brisbane restaurant fined over salmonella

A BRISBANE restaurant that gave 29 people food poisoning, including an elite athlete who had to be hospitalised for three days, has been fined $37,000.

Two dodgy batches of mayonnaise were made by the head chef at the South Bank Surf Club in 2015, with Brisbane Magistrates Court hearing they were contaminated with salmonella likely transferred from eggshells.

Lawyers for the restaurant yesterday entered guilty pleas to 22 charges of serving unsafe food over eight days.

The charges did not arise from unhygienic practices and the company had no knowledge the food was unsafe, the court heard.

Western Australian hockey player Kelli Reilly had snacked on buffalo wings with aioli sauce with her team at the restaurant the day before they were due to play in the final of a competition in Brisbane.

They won gold at the tournament but soon after, Ms Reilly was hospitalised for three days and still suffers from the salmonella poisoning.

She has not been able to play hockey since.