ACT Health aware of 130 possible doughnut gastro cases

Possible victims of Mrs Kim's Donuts are beginning to come forward, sharing symptoms of vomiting, diarrhoea, dehydration and abdominal pain that has even led to hospitalisations.

Dylan Hayne was a customer who bought a six pack of doughnuts for his partner Olivia Corkery's birthday on Wednesday, November 24, which they believe is what caused them to become severely ill.

"We felt fine for a few days, but at 2am on Friday I woke up to severe vomiting and it started for Olivia a few hours later at 8am," Mr Hayne said.

"For days we had really bad food poisoning with dehydration, migraines, a lot of vomiting and diarrhoea. We couldn't drink any water or keep food down until dinner a few days ago on Monday 29. It was agonising for both of us.

"We connected the dots it was likely the doughnut restaurant because it was the only thing both Olivia and myself had eaten together and we saw other people post their experience from the same place in a Canberra forum."

The couple had travelled to Sydney before symptoms to visit family for the first time in months, which Olivia said was ruined.

"I was really mad, because I'd organised a dinner with my friends, they were all eating and drinking while I couldn't because I was so sick, I just wanted to have a good birthday," Ms Corkery said.

"The restaurant could have at least shut down and apologised to people who reported symptoms earlier because it possibly could have prevented us from getting sick later.

"We have had no contact from the business, they just completely disappeared which makes us feel the restaurant doesn't care they possibly made hundreds of people sick."

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Mrs Kim's sold up to 1000 doughnuts a day during lockdown, which raises speculation from customers on how many more Canberrans have experienced symptoms.

The small business has taken down its Facebook, Instagram and Uber Eats profiles with no answer from their phone number.

Mrs Kim's has been contacted for comment.

Other people have reported suffering more extreme symptoms that led to being admitted in the emergency ward, including stomach pain, vomiting and fevers.

Reports of vomiting every five to 10 minutes for several hours that led to a loss of consciousness and sleeping on the bathroom floor also occurred.

The only way customers like Mr Hayne and Ms Corkery were able to understand why they all got sick was through one common link of eating doughnuts at the same shop.

ACT Health confirmed some people had been treated at hospital and is running an ongoing investigation, interviewing each claim of food poisoning.

"As at 3pm on December 1, 2021, approximately 130 people have been identified as experiencing similar symptoms that may be attributable to the same source. Symptoms have generally resolved after 48 hours," a government spokesperson said.

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