At least 14 people were infected with salmonella after outbreaks at two different Canberra kebab shops, a federal Department of Health report says.
Five people went to the emergency department, and one person was hospitalised.
Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal pain. Rarely, it can lead to dehydration and death.
Nine of twelve people infected with the bacteria reported eating from the same kebab shop between February and April 2022.
Three people could not say where they had eaten before they got sick.
Salmonella was found on meat samples, a cleaning cloth and shaving blades at the unnamed restaurant.
In a second outbreak, two people with salmonella had both eaten at a different kebab shop in June.
The investigations into the outbreaks relied on people actively reporting symptoms, meaning other Canberrans may have been infected.
All 12 cases reported having diarrhoea, and three of the cases said blood had appeared in their stool.
The youngest person from the first outbreak was only six-years-old, and the eldest was 62.
Neither people from the second outbreak were hospitalised.
An investigation found the first kebab shop had "inadequate cleaning and sanitising processes", the report said.
Salmonella was found on chicken and lamb samples, on a cleaning cloth, on a chicken scoop pan and on shaving blades.
"Staff were unable to detach the blade from the electric kebab shaving equipment used to cut rotisserie meat, which limited proper cleaning," the report said.
"Kebab meat was either cut from the rotisserie and served directly to customers (particularly when the business was busy) or placed in a holding unit and further cooked on a hot plate before serving."
Some cut rotisserie meat was shaved directly onto flatbread before being served.
The temperature of the meat in the holding unit was between 56 and 74 degrees.
Heated chicken is required to be stored at 60 degrees or above.
The shop linked to the second outbreak had similar conditions to the first, the report said.
"Staff were observed to have significant difficulty dismantling the kebab shaver for cleaning," it said.
Shaved meat was placed in a bain-marie, also known as a hot water bath, and set to 80 degrees. It was served without being cooked again.
"When the business was busy, additional meat was placed on top," the report said.
"Meat in the bain-marie was sampled at 56 degrees."
While one cleaning cloth had salmonella on it, most samples from the second restaurant returned negative results.
In response, the ACT government issued the two businesses an Improvement Notice.
Food prep areas were sanitised, and staff were given education and training.
The Department of Health report said salmonella was not detected at either kebab shop in a follow-up.
The authors recommended "specific guidance emphasising the importance of routine disassembly, cleaning, and sanitising of kebab shaving blades" to prevent future kebab shop salmonella outbreaks.
In a statement, an ACT Health spokesperson said:
"While ACT Health worked with the kebab businesses mentioned in the report to ensure they improved their food safety processes and procedures, we have not yet started to implement a broader program across other kebab businesses throughout the ACT," they said.
"As noted in the report, ACT Health's findings at the two businesses highlighted in the report have initiated a range of proactive public health activities, which will be implemented in 2023.
"This includes a program of random food and preparation area sampling across targeted business in 2023 as part of a survey on the food safety of kebab businesses in the ACT. This program will include the provision of targeted food safety education materials to kebab businesses."
