GleNTi 2025: ‘Sabotage’ claim thrown by Brotherhood after octopus health order

Organisers of the GleNTi Festival have assured the public octopus will still be on the menu this weekend, despite two tonnes of seafood having been scrapped.

UPDATED - June 7, 10.30am: Organisers of the GleNTi Festival have assured the public octopus will still be on the menu this weekend, despite two tonnes of seafood having been scrapped.

In a statement on Saturday morning, organisers encouraged festival-goers not to be disheartened by NT Health’s shock decision to ban the Kalymnian Brotherhood’s octopus.

“(We) are pleased to let you know that we have secured a supply of high quality octopus, ensuring that this beloved dish remains part of the GleNTi experience,” the statement read.

“This year, the Greek Orthodox Community will be running the octopus store, and we look forward to serving this festival favourite.”

The statement noted it “wouldn’t be GleNTi without the iconic char-grilled octopus”.

“The safety of all GleNTi-goers is of paramount importance to us, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of food safety and quality,” the statement read.

“Please note that the quantity is not as large as in previous years, so be sure to make your way there to avoid missing out.”

‘Sabotage’ claim thrown by Brotherhood after octopus health order

Government officials remain in a standoff with a local non-for-profit organisation following a shock decision to ban $50k worth of octopus deemed unsafe for consumption.

On Wednesday evening, 72 hours out from the Greek GleNTi Festival, the Kalymnian Brotherhood were notified by NT Health officials their two tonnes of octopus had been assessed as “unsuitable for consumption”.

A regular contributor to the GleNTi Festival, the Brotherhood have denied any wrongdoing in their food preparation practices and say they are weighing up the possibility of taking legal action.

GleNTi will be two tonnes short on octopus this weekend.

No other associations involved in the festival have been issued a complaint, and no express findings have been made.

“As of Friday, 6 June no other associations involved with the Greek GleNTi have breached the Food Standards Code,” an NT Health spokesperson said.

On Friday afternoon, the Kalymnian Brotherhood released a statement on social media to slam the decision.

“This decision comes after we were advised that we can’t sell our product due to false accusations regarding our food preparation,” the statement read.

“We want to make it clear our octopus prep was conducted properly and in the correct manner – all preparations were completed under full supervision and in accordance to our safe food handling certificate.”

The Kalymnian Brotherhood claim the decision is a “sabotage” of their fundraiser.

The Brotherhood also claimed NT Health inspectors conducted their inspections three days after the food was prepared.

“We stand by our integrity and reject any misleading claims,” the statement continued.

“We consider this to be sabotage and we are very strong believers in due process.”

Questions to NT Health from this masthead as to what the specific nature of the breach was were not answered.

“NT Health conducted a thorough investigation into the matter, which identified a number of breaches of the Food Standards Code,” a spokesperson said.

“As a result, NT Health determined that the affected food was unsuitable for consumption.”

In a previous statement on Thursday evening, the department said they would “work with” the association to “ensure compliance”.

“NT Health takes food and public safety very seriously and this action will have a very minor impact on what is a highly anticipated community event,” a spokesperson said.