Customer swallows glass shards at Central Markets cafe

A burst light globe above a stove at a Central Markets café has led to glass shards being ingested by a customer.

A court has heard how a “unique and unfortunate” series of events led to shards of broken light globe being mixed into an omelette before being served to the Atlas Café customer.

The café has been fined thousands of dollars over the incident that occurred in May 2021. The owner wasn’t convicted as the magistrate deemed it to be a one-off accident in the cafes 40-year history. 

Director of Mariker Pty Ltd, Martin Marinelli, was charged with two counts of failing to comply with food standards over the 18 May accident. 

Magistrate Kym Millard heard that a chef had been working in the kitchen of the Atlas Cafe in the early hours when a light globe above the stove burst, tripping the circuit breaker leaving the café in total darkness.

Several pans on the stove top were showered with the broken globe glass.

The chef cleaned up the glass from the pans and returned them to the stovetop.

The chef then finished their shift and was replaced in the morning by a day chef.

Later in the day, a pre-made omelette mixture was poured into one of the pans and given to a customer who noticed a shard of glass three-quarters of the way through eating their meal.

The customer went to the Royal Adelaide Hospital to be scanned and doctors found three small pieces of glass in his stomach which a specialist said would be passed naturally by the patient as they were small enough. 

Marinelli pleaded guilty to the charges early, acknowledging that there should have been a wire cover over the light.

Mariker was fined $2750 and Marinelli $2000. The final bill including other costs will exceed $7000.

Irit Jackson, 30^th May 2022