An investigation into an outbreak of a rare food poisoning bug has recommended a string of changes to prevent the Giardia Lamblia parasite taking hold in the district again.

The warning follows the Bradford owners of the restaurant involved receiving suspended jail sentences last month and being banned for life from working with food.

Mohammed Ayub and Abdul Ghafoor, the two men behind the now-defunct Saffron restaurant in Ilkley, had pleaded guilty to 12 breaches of food-hygiene laws and six counts of selling food unfit for human consumption.

They also admitted failing to register the business with Bradford Council and obstructing the authority’s inquiry into the 2007 outbreak.

Now, a report by the Health Protection Agency and environmental health bosses at the Council has been made public detailing the 64 confirmed cases, which were mainly in Ilkley, although some were in Bradford. One victim required hospital treatment.

In addition there were thought to be a further 25 probable cases and 275 possible cases linked to the outbreak.

The report states: “The outbreak ceased when the water filter system used at The Saffron was taken out of use, two Giardia positive members of staff were excluded from work until successfully treated and steps were undertaken to improve food hygiene.”

Environmental officers were alerted to the unregistered restaurant by a complaint from a group of 12 students who ate there in September 2007 and fell ill.

At the beginning of the investigation stool samples from restaurant staff were sent for testing, but it later emerged that parasites such as Giardia Lamblia were not routinely tested for and the samples were then disposed of.

Yorkshire Water was also asked to test its reservoirs supplying Ilkley for the parasite, but no evidence of it was found.

Bradford Crown Court heard last month how Ayub and Ghafoor ran a business “riddled” with Giardia Lamblia as well as E. coli and that they had a “basic disregard for the proper standards of food hygiene”.

The rare parasitic infection had passed into food and water served at the restaurant through poor hygiene practices and a poorly-maintained water filtration system.

The report recommends:

  • *a review of enforcement policy relating to unregistered premises
  • * officers being made aware of the link between Giardia and food and the use of water filtration systems;
  • * stool samples as part of an outbreak should be kept by the laboratory until an investigation concludes
  • * an accredited method of examining food samples for Giardia needs to be developed.