Batch of rotten eggs strikes 21 people down with salmonella at a Melbourne eatery

The Department of Health and Human Services was alerted to the outbreak after a number of people were treated for salmonella at Box Hill Hospital. Photo/Getty Images

At least 21 people were struck down with salmonella caused by a bad batch of eggs at a restaurant.

The outbreak, which left some diners hospitalized, has caused "genuine distraught" to Food Republic's co-owner Vanessa Lekkas who said the Blackburn restaurant would no longer serve food made with raw egg products, according to Daily Mail.

"In almost 30 years of working in the industry we've never seen this happen," Lekkas told The Herald Sun.

"We get hundreds of boxes delivered each week, and it looks like one of those contained a bad batch of eggs."

The Department of Health and Human Services was alerted to the outbreak after a number of people were treated for salmonella at Box Hill Hospital.

"We can confirm there has been salmonella identified from diners who went the Food Republic restaurant in Blackburn Rd on March 18," spokesman Bram Alexander told Daily Mail Australia.

However Mr Alexander could not confirm the source of the infection and was reluctant
"Investigations so far haven't found the source of the salmonella," he said.

"The tests performed of the samples hasn't found a positive result, there are a number of foods we're testing.

"There's no ongoing risk to the public - the restaurant is operating as normal as people should continue to patronize it."

Co-owner Lekkas said they had been fully transparent with the Department of Health and Human Services and Whitehorse Council, who saw that Food Republic's food handling processes met industry standards.

The groups are now looking into the cause of the salmonella outbreak, which has now been contained.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Food Republic for comment.