Fast food giant KFC has been told to pay $8 million to the parents of a girl who say she was left paralysed and brain damaged after eating a chicken Twister. Monika Samaan, then aged 7, became seriously ill with salmonella poisoning after eating at the Villawood KFC in 2005.

Last Friday her family won their compensation bid against KFC in the New South Wales Supreme Court and today Justice Stephen Rothman ordered KFC to pay $8 million plus legal costs. KFC denied it was responsible for the poisoning and says it will appeal the decision.

In a statement the restaurant said the case was clearly tragic but they were "deeply disappointed and surprised" by Judge Rothman's decision.

"We believe the evidence showed KFC did not cause this tragedy and, after reviewing the judgment and seeking further advice from our lawyers, we have decided to appeal Justice Rothman's decision," KFC Australia's chief corporate affairs officer Sally Glover said.

Samaan was in a coma for six months and was left with spastic quadriplegia with severe brain damage after falling ill.

The family’s lawyer George Vlahakis said the costs of caring for the severely disabled girl had already exhausted "the limited resources of the family". He said they were relieved the court battle was over but distressed by the announcement of an appeal.

【新聞快訊】澳大利亞一家法庭一周前裁定快餐連鎖店肯德基提供不潔食品、導致一名顧客患病的事實成立，27日下令肯德基向原告支付800萬澳元（約合830萬美元）賠償并承擔全部訴訟費用。

原告莫妮卡·薩曼2005年10月在悉尼一家肯德基門店食用雞肉卷后患上沙門氏菌腦病，癥狀包括大腦認知、行動、語言能力嚴重損傷，最終四肢痙攣性癱瘓。薩曼當年只有7歲，至今未愈。薩曼的代理律師說，薩曼家人當時同樣出現(xiàn)不適癥狀，但沒有患上這種主要因食物中毒引起的嚴重血液型腦病。新南威爾士最高法院一周前對這樁訴訟作出終審判決，判肯德基敗訴。27日，法院公布高達830萬美元的罰金數(shù)額。

肯德基在上星期庭審期間拒絕承認薩曼的癱瘓由食品不潔所致，聲稱一旦敗訴將提起上訴。截至27日，肯德基沒有上訴。法新社援引法官羅什曼的話報道，肯德基雞肉卷受污染的原因是“一名或多名員工失誤”，違反備料備餐安全規(guī)程。