Most food poisoning outbreaks are caused by food prepared at restaurants or delis according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study, which looked at outbreak data from 1998 to 2008, found that 68 percent of foodborne illness outbreaks were linked to restaurants or delis. And another 7 percent were associated with food prepared at a catering or banquet facility.
Recently there have been a number of food poisoning outbreaks associated with restaurants. In late June, a Salmonella outbreak prompted health officials to close Iguana Joe’s restaurant on W. Lake Houston Parkway in Atascocita, Texas. Several people who ate at the restaurant contracted Salmonella poisoning, some of them were hospitalized. A Salmonella outbreak associated with the restaurant at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux in Fayetteville, North Carolina sickened 103 people between mid May and early June.
In mid-June, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with Los Burritos Mexicanos restaurant in Lombard, Illinois sickened at least 10 people. At least one child developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication of E. coli infections that leads to kidney failure and other health problems. There were also HUS cases in E.coli outbreaks associated with the Bar-B-Q Shack in Toccoa, Georgia and the Coco Loco restaurant in College Station, Texas and the Ambassel Restaurant and Bar located in Seattle, Washington.
