Station restaurants empty as food investigation continues | EVE Online

Station restaurants empty as food investigation continues

2008-08-25 - By Svarthol

Dastryns - The outbreak of illness that spread through the Federal Administration Bureau offices in orbit of the 17Th moon of Dastryns VII has been linked to shipments of Long-limb roe consumed by station patrons, through the cause of the illness is still undetermined.

Despite the established link between recent shipments of Long-limb roe and the outbreak, station medical researchers report no success in treating the illness. Despite the pathological similarity to known bacterial infections, standard antibiotic treatment has remained ineffective. Fortunately, though some cases are still listed as "serious," no deaths have yet been linked to the disease, and no new cases have been reported since the affected shipments of roe were quarantined.

Long-limb roe is considered a rare delicacy, typically found only in high-end restaurants or specialty food stores. Since the initial announcement of the illness outbreak, station restaurants have seen a dramatic decrease in sales despite the rarity of establishments serving roe. Talares Mayer, majority owner of the popular restaurant chain Altanda, has stated that last week's sales were over 60% lower than projected. "People are still uneasy," Mayer said, "and they're staying home to eat. I'd like to reiterate my commitment to the safety of [Altanda's] patrons. All Long-limb roe has been discarded, and we have sterilized each and every location."

All Long-limb roe sold in the Dastryns system is produced by Combined Harvest, one of the Gallente Federation's largest food production, storage, and distribution corporations. Roland Mesteran, Junior Production Manager with Combined Harvest's Placid operational group, directed inquiries related to this story to Combined Harvest's industry-leading food safety policies, reiterating the corporation's "ongoing commitment to remaining the industry leader if food safety in all phases, from production to delivery." Mr. Mesteran also stressed that Combined Harvest is not responsible for foodborne illness related to or caused by the consumption of improperly prepared items.

Spokespeople from the Dastryns Federal Administration station have reiterated that normal operations are unaffected. While it has been confirmed that several high-ranking officials have fallen ill, both Bureau and station operations continue normally and are at no risk of being terminated or scaled back.