The head chef who contaminated a graduation banquet with salmonella was sentenced in Yekaterinburg (PHOTO)

      The Kirov District Court of Yekaterinburg handed down a guilty verdict on Tuesday, November 18, against Richmond Rest LLC’s head chef, Pavel Grachev. Due to numerous violations of sanitary standards committed by the defendant, a mass poisoning of banquet guests occurred.

      While in the food preparation area of the Palekh restaurant, owned by Richmond Rest LLC, Grachev, the court found, violated sanitary and epidemiological regulations, which negligently caused a mass poisoning of patrons, some of whom were hospitalized (as reported in July, the victims were diagnosed with salmonellosis).

      The mass food poisoning occurred on July 11, 2025, at the Versailles cafe. That day a graduation banquet was being held there for students of the V.F. Yakovlev Institute of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Ural State Law University. The dishes for the banquet were prepared in the food preparation area of Richmond Rest LLC.

      Sanitary physicians carried out an epidemiological investigation and inspected the food preparation area where the dishes were prepared. The inspection revealed numerous violations of sanitary standards, and the food preparation area was sealed.

      On July 18 the Kirov District Court of Yekaterinburg suspended the activities of Richmond Rest LLC for 30 days under Article 6.6 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Violation of sanitary and epidemiological requirements for the organization of public catering in specially equipped places). Later, criminal proceedings were initiated against the head chef.

      It was established that while preparing for the banquet, Grachev ignored numerous requirements of his job description, the legislation on sanitary and epidemiological well‑being of the population, and SanPiN, and committed widespread violations of the technological process of preparing dishes, including with respect to ensuring the safety of food products and compliance with the disinfection regime, the Joint Press Service of the Courts of the Sverdlovsk Region reports.

      As a result of the defendant’s negligent actions, a mass poisoning of at least 43 people occurred.

      The court found P.V. Grachev, born in 1986, guilty under part 1 of article 236 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules that negligently caused mass poisoning of people) and sentenced him to one year of restriction of freedom. In addition, he is banned for one and a half years from engaging in activities related to the organization of public catering. The man fully admitted his guilt and expressed remorse for his actions.

      The verdict has not entered into legal force and may be appealed within 15 days.