So it was a month ago today that hundreds of restaurants around Hungary observed the annual promotion known as Torkos Csütörtök, or "Gluttonous Thursday", in which diners get 50% off their meal tabs, and the repercussions are still being felt in intestines and government offices around the country, with the National Public Health and Medical Officers Service (ÁNTSZ) investigating numerous cases of Salmonella poisoning contracted on the Big Day at two restaurants in Szeged. According to news portal delmagyar.hu ("south Hungary") the primary suspect is the Fehértói Halászcsárda, while the nearby Kék Csillag Étterem, which apparently provides food to the Fehértói Halászcsárda, was also cited. Up to 26 diners are said to have been infected, with a slightly smaller number of employees being revealed as "asymptomatic" carriers of the disease.

And in other related sickening news, it appears that ÁNTSZ is not even bothering to update the "restaurant blacklist" it is supposed to be putting places like this on. When we wrote about it way back in October of 2006 there were only four restaurants in all of Hungary deemed unhealthy enough to blacklist. But according to a report on napi.hu, only four names were added to the list since then, and, from what we can tell, the grand total remains four.

Even worse, the list has not been updated since this past October, even though the ÁNTSZ promised to do so monthly. As for why it hasn't, Lajos Ócsai, head of the public health department, said that the reason is "lack of time," adding that ÁNTSZ is planning to "establish a team" charged with the task of getting the relevant data up on the website, as if posting a few names and addresses text took more than a minute or two, and the willingness to make an enemy.

Speaking of which, another tactic the ÁNTSZ is considering is raising the maximum fine it imposes on restaurants, which is currently only Ft 150,000 (€570), or just under what most restaurant owners would probably be happy to pay to make sure they are not publicly accused of poisoning their patrons, even on half-off day.