Restaurant fined $28,000 after serving children insect repellent instead of cranberry juice

A restaurant has been fined $28,000 after it served two children insect repellant instead of fruit juice.

In the summer of 2024, Hannah Lemin, 12 and sister Olivia, 11, visited an Italian restaurant in Perth, Australia with their mom and dad, Marcus and Michele.

Despite believing their drinks were cranberry juice, the girls had actually drank insect repellant, Citronella.

After taking a sip, the children spat the liquid out, complaining to their parents of its 'poisoned' taste.

"My daughters just went to gulp it down, and they both spat the cranberry juice out and said, 'It's poisoned,'" Michele told 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)

After the family alerted staff, Marcus claimed they refused to show him the bottle, explaining they said it was 'old cranberry juice'. He added: "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."

In a previous interview with The West Australian, Michele explained the children were in tears following the incident.

“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 hospital for monitoring, where they experienced headaches, burning sensations in their stomach and tingling.

Michele Angiuli, former owner of the restaurant, Miky's Italian Fusion, was found guilty of selling unsafe food and failing to exercise due diligence.

The restaurant was ordered to pay a fine of $40,000 Australian dollars ($28,000).

Outside the court, 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."