KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Restaurant Causes 19 Salmonella Cases
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by Alana RochaHealth officials don't know what caused it. They do know where it came from and more people are coming forward sick. Nineteen people have gotten salmonella poisoning after eating at a restaurant in Newton. State and local workers say finding the source of the bacteria is a process of elimination.
John Berg and Eric Nichols ate at Acapulco Mexican Restaurant, in Newton, Monday. Nichols says, "Food's always been good. Service has always been good. I didn't have any fears."
The restaurant is open for business, satisfying its customers. "You compare all the bad to the good, sometimes it's worth the risks," said Nichols.
The people who ate at Acapulco June 2nd-10th got sick with salmonella. "When you think of how many different handlings and how many different sources and how many different people interact in that food chain - you can't ever say never," says Harvey County Health Director Rita Fleckinger.
The infection sent a couple of people to the hospital and put food safety officials to work.
"It could've been tied in with the tomatoes. They could've not gotten the tomatoes off the shelf or something," said Nichols.
Health officials are still trying to find the source and they're considering tomatoes. They're also looking at if any of the workers at the restaurant we're sick during that time or if an outside food vendor brought it in.
Fleckinger says, "We're exploring the entire food chain, when it gets in the country till it gets to a distributor."
Harvey County is trying to determine which foods made it to the mouths of the sick customers. It's having everyone who calls with symptoms fill out an eight page questionnaire with possible food combinations from the menu.
"We have no idea where this is leading to at this point," said Fleckinger.
Health workers have inspected the restaurant and say its safe to eat at Acapulco. Berg says, "Hopefully after that happening, if there was anything to do they got it taken care of. If not, I'll let you know."
Officials want to know the source of the salmonella no matter what might have caused it.
Food safety workers cited Acapulco during the inspection June 17th for what it calls four critical violations. The majority of the citations center around food storage; the way cold foods are handled, the use of wrong containers, and not properly marking the food with the date. Improper hand-washing was also concern.
Authorities tell us all of the restaurant's violations were corrected on site and do not require a follow up inspection. We contacted the manager at Acapulco. He didn't want to comment.
The county says the restaurant has complied throughout the process.
For the restaurant's past inspections, click on the link above.
