Wedding hog roast gives more than 50 guests salmonella as happy couple forced to cancel dream Caribbean honeymoon

A wedding hog roast left dozens of guests including the groom suffered food poisoning so severe the the happy couple cancelled their dream Caribbean honeymoon.

Phil Kemp, 37, was due to travel to the Dominican Republic with his new wife Vikki, 35, but was struck down following a salmonella outbreak at their wedding reception in 2017.

The groom and 52 of his guests developed the symptoms of gastric illness the day after he had tied the knot, after they ate meat from a hog roast provided by a catering company.

Tests later revealed many had been infected by salmonella, leading 25 of the wedding party to launch legal action against Galloping Gourmet (Coulsden) Ltd. Four members of staff also fell ill.

The firm was also prosecuted by Lichfield District Council and pleaded guilty to two health and hygiene offences for providing the contaminated hog roast, according to Irwin Mitchell, which represented the complainants.

Galloping Gourmet was fined £200,000 and ordered to £50,000 in costs.

Mr Kemp, an IT operations technician from Burntwood, Lichfield, said: “The wedding had been a really fantastic day and everyone had enjoyed it so much, but I couldn’t believe it when I started to feel unwell. It got to the point where I had to go to a local walk-in centre and after tests I was told I had salmonella – I just couldn’t believe it.

“My illness lasted around 10 days all in all, but the symptoms were so bad that we had no option but to cancel our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic. I was totally devastated and we never got any money back from the tour operator or insurer in relation to it.

“We did go away eventually, but this was obviously an extra cost on top of everything we had already paid. It was heartbreaking.”

His guests were said to have suffered further issues including irritable bowel syndrome as a result of their infection.

Mr Kemp said he hoped the prosecution would serve as a lesson to caterers, adding: No one should have to go through what we have, especially in relation to their wedding day – it is just not acceptable.

“Sadly a lot of the memories about what should have been the happiest day of mine and Vikki’s lives are spoilt by what happened.”

The civil cases are still to be resolved.

Jatinder Paul, a senior associate solicitor from Irwin Mitchell who represented victims of the outbreak, said: “It is also vital that this case acts as a warning of the dangers of catering companies selling food unfit for consumption and reinforces the need for firms to uphold the highest hygiene standards at all times.”