Restaurant Fined $28,000 After Children Were Served Insect Repellent Instead Of Cranberry Juice

A restaurant has been fined $28,000 after two children were mistakenly served insect repellent instead of fruit juice during a family meal.

During the summer of 2024, sisters Hannah Lemin, 12, and Olivia Lemin, 11, visited an Italian restaurant in Perth, Australia with their parents, Marcus and Michele.

The girls believed they had been served cranberry juice with their meal. In reality, the liquid in their glasses contained citronella, a substance commonly used as an insect repellent.

After taking a sip, both children quickly spat the drink out. They immediately told their parents that something about the taste seemed wrong and described it as tasting like poison.

"My daughters just went to gulp it down, and they both spat the cranberry juice out and said, 'It's poisoned,'" Michele explained during an interview with ABC.

"I said, 'Don't be silly,' and took the glass, and I went to gulp it down and then spat it out."

The girls thought they were drinking cranberry juice Getty Stock Photo

When the family raised the issue with restaurant staff, Marcus said the employees initially refused to show them the bottle that the liquid came from. According to him, staff insisted that it was simply old cranberry juice.

Marcus later described the moment, saying: "He took the bottle [out of the fridge] and placed it under the counter. That's when I sort of said, 'No, you need to give me the bottle, I need to see what it is'."

"We're lucky that the children weren't younger," Michele added: "If they were younger children that this happened to, I'd hate to think what would have happened."

Speaking previously to The West Australian, Michele also described how emotional the children were after realizing what had happened.

"My husband grabbed it and looked at it and he said 'it's citronella oil mixed with insect repellent — you've poisoned them."

"I was just focused on looking after my girls. The restaurant was full but I wasn't even aware of anyone in the restaurant. It was like, 'Oh my god'."

"The girls were crying. There was instant burning because they swallowed it. They spat some out but they had also swallowed it. I had swallowed it too and the taste was awful."

The restaurant has now closed Google Maps

The children were taken to the hospital so doctors could monitor their condition after the incident. Both experienced headaches, burning sensations in their stomachs, and tingling after swallowing some of the liquid.

Michele Angiuli, the former owner of the restaurant Miky's Italian Fusion, was later found guilty of selling unsafe food and failing to meet safety responsibilities.

The court ordered the restaurant to pay a fine of $40,000 Australian dollars, which equals about $28,000 USD.

Speaking outside the court following the ruling, Marcus said: "I think the issue for me is more that it drives a bit more rigour in the industry and that we get to a point where maybe business owners in the hospitality industry understand the accountabilities they hold."