SANDWELL Council chiefs have slammed the owners of Oldbury's Wing Wah restuarant after 46 people contract food piosoning. Yesterday the owners were forced to pay out nearly £20,000 in fines and costs at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

After the case Sandwell's safety and licensing manager Peter Willetts said, "This outbreak could easily have been avoided by the restuarant not using raw shell eggs in tiramisu - other alternatives such as pasteurised eggs are available."

Councillor Mahboob Hussain, the Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for neighbourhoods and housing said, "This outbreak highlights the fact that raw eggs can still cause salmonella food poisoning and that is a very serious illness."

He went on, "At least 46 people suffered varying degrees of pain and suffering with at least six hospitalised for several days.

I am pleased to hear that improvements have since been made at Wing Wah and I would urge all caterers in Sandwell to ensure they are following goverment guidance on the use of eggs."

The Food Standards Agency website states, "You should use pasteurised egg in any food that won't bve cooked ( or will only be lightly cooked) for example home made mayonnaise, bearnaise and hollandaise sauces, some salad dressings, ice-cream, icing, mousse, tiramisu and other desserts containing eggs."