A restaurant in Perth, Australia, has been hit with a hefty $28,000 fine after it mistakenly served two young girls insect repellent instead of cranberry juice, leading to a truly frightening ordeal for the family. The incident unfolded in the summer of 2024 when Hannah Lemin, 12, and her sister Olivia, 11, were enjoying a meal at an Italian restaurant called Miky’s Italian Fusion with their parents, Marcus and Michele Lemin.
According to UNILAD, what they thought was refreshing cranberry juice turned out to be Citronella, a common insect repellent. The girls immediately knew something was terribly wrong. As Michele Lemin recounted, “My daughters just went to gulp it down, and they both spat the cranberry juice out and said, ‘It’s poisoned.'”
Michele initially thought they were just being silly, but after taking a sip herself, she instantly realized the severity of the situation. After the unhappy diners alerted the staff, Marcus Lemin claimed they were hesitant to show him the bottle, trying to dismiss it as “old cranberry juice.” He had to insist on seeing it, telling them, “No, you need to give me the bottle, I need to see what it is.”
Instead of owning up, the staff lied about their mistake
When he finally got a look, he saw it was indeed citronella oil mixed with insect repellent. Panicked, his immediate thought was, “You’ve poisoned them.” The girls were understandably in tears, experiencing instant burning sensations after swallowing some of the repellent. Michele also noted that she felt the awful taste herself.
The children were taken to the hospital for monitoring, where they reported headaches, burning sensations in their stomachs, and tingling. Michele expressed a deep concern, saying, “If they were younger… I’d hate to think what would have happened.” Smaller children might not have spit out the liquid as quickly or even been able to communicate what was happening.
In the aftermath, Michele Angiuli, the former owner of Miky’s Italian Fusion, was found guilty of selling unsafe food and failing to exercise due diligence. The restaurant, which has since closed its doors, was ordered to pay a fine of $40,000 Australian dollars, which converts to about $28,000.
Outside the court, Marcus shared his hope that this unfortunate event would bring about positive change and shed more light on health hazards in restaurants. He 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.”
Published: Mar 3, 2026 05:15 pm