The owner of a café in Western Australia has been charged with selling unsuitable food to a family that tested positive for THC after they ate a brownie served to them at the establishment.
The Bada Bing Café is a family-owned café and restaurant that has been operated by a Nathan Sharp and his wife Simona in the Woodlands suburb in Perth since 2007.
The young family visited the café on the morning of March 2 and purchased a brownie that the mother Sharon and her five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son ate during breakfast, reports ABC.
Soon afterward, the children began behaving strangely, prompting Sharon and her husband Michael to seek medical aid at Perth Children’s Hospital.
Sharon also began experiencing similar symptoms while at the hospital.
A urinalysis showed that Sharon and her children had traces of THC in their systems.
Michael, who did not have any of the brownie, returned to Bada Bing on the following day to purchase a second brownie which he kept in the freezer at home until police came to retrieve it.
“It came as a total shock to us that a Perth family is alleging that they became ill after eating at our café,” said Simona Sharp in a statement. “We have co-operated with WA Police who have confirmed that their investigation has been completed and no charges will be laid.”
But while there were no charges filed by police, the City of Sterling council launched an investigation and has charged the owner of Bada Bing Café, Nathan Sharp, with two counts of selling food that was unsuitable on March 2 and 3.
The offense is a violation of the Food Act of 2008 and is punishable by a fine of up to $40,000 for an individual.
According to a spokesperson for the City of Sterling, an analysis of the brownie provided by Michael confirmed the presence of THC, though how it came to be there is currently unknown.
Sharp is scheduled to appear before the Perth Magistrates Court on July 19.
