Tag Archives: Subway

Bad tuna sends seven Subway customers to the hospital in Vancouver

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Seven customers at a Subway sandwich outlet in the international terminal of the Vancouver airport were taken to hospital on Friday afternoon suffering from an apparent bout of food poisoning.

Vancouver Coastal Health spokesman Justin Karasick said the suspected cause of their illness was some tuna that may not have been stored at the right temperature.

The customers are believed to have been stricken by a form of food poisoning known as scombroid, which occurs when there is a high level of histamine in raw or uncooked fish, said Mr. Karasick.

Officials release final report of Illinois Subway salmonella outbreak

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Did the Sponge Bob leafy greens cone of silence descend on Illinois health types as they concluded in a 69-page report published today that lettuce, tomatoes and olives were the possible culprits in a Subway salmonella outbreak that sickened almost 200 earlier this year?

Pantagraph.com reported today that officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health traced a salmonella outbreak at Subway restaurants to one Central Illinois food distributor, but in a final report on the incident issued Thursday, could not identify the exact source of the problem, which led to 109 confirmed cases and another 90-plus probable or suspect cases of the illness between late April and June.

In the 69-page report, investigators said the “most likely source” of the lettuce, tomatoes and olives linked to the illnesses was Lincoln-based Sysco Central Illinois Inc., which delivered produce to the affected restaurants.

Samples collected at the company’s distribution facility in June, after many of the victims had already contracted the illness, were tested and found negative for salmonella.

Areas that may have been the source of salmonella may have been washed down and produce that was affected may have been discarded.

The report, which will be forwarded to the federal Centers for Disease Control, shows that 299 Subway restaurants were forced to dispose of their produce during the event.

More than 480 workers at the stores had to be tested. A dozen of them were found to be positive for the strain of salmonella.

Salmonella dampens sales at Subway

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Sales continue to be down by one-third to one-half at Springfield-area Subway restaurants more than a month after dozens of Subways in central and northern Illinois threw out all vegetables suspected of causing a salmonella outbreak.

The illness hospitalized at least 26 people and sickened 103.

A total of 103 people — 101 Illinois residents and two people from outside the state — reported becoming ill and testing positive for the salmonella strain.

Subway officials have cooperated with the investigation. They voluntarily discarded all produce — lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers and red onions — suspected to be connected with illnesses.

The affected people ate at 49 Subway locations in 28 Illinois counties and one Subway in Minnesota.
 

The politics of produce and going public

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There are now 97 people sick with salmonella in 28 Illinois counties, all related to eating at a bunch of different Subway restaurants.

A bunch of the food handlers at different Subway outlets have tested positive for salmonella, but that’s probably because they’re snacking on the same ingredients the customers get in their sandwiches.

When the outbreak was first identified, Subway pulled its lettuce, green peppers, red onions and tomatoes from restaurants and brought in new supplies. A prudent produce move.

But now the Packer reports that investigators are saying fresh produce is just a “possible” source of the salmonella outbreak.

Although federal, state and local health agencies have not named fresh vegetables as the definitive source, Melaney Arnold, an Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman, has said the investigation was leaning toward produce as the culprit. On June 23, Arnold characterized produce only as a possible source.
 

Goodbye sister disco; epidemiology doesn’t count and Subway sorta sucks at identifying suppliers; 79 sick with Salmonella; produce prime suspect

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The Illinois Department of Health came out today and said there were now 79 confirmed cases of Salmonella serotype Hvittingfoss from eating at Subway restaurants located in 26 Illinois counties.

And while Subway has yanked some of its produce items like lettuce and tomatoes from these stores, no one will apparently point the finger.

Oh epidemiology, I’ll still dance with you.

71 now confirmed sick in Subway Salmonella outbreak; produce suspected

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An Illinois health spokesperson told The Packer today that fresh produce was the likely culprit sickening at least 71 people with Salmonella who ate at Subway restaurants in 22 different counties.

But no one’s really talking. That Spongebob cone of silence is working a lot better for the produce industry that it is for BP.

As of this morning, there were 71 confirmed cases of Salmonella serotype Hvittingfoss affecting people from 2- to 88-years-old.

Melaney Arnold, communications manager for the Illinois Department of Public Health told The Packer 26 people have been hospitalized, and seven were still in the hospital as of today.

Subway restaurants in 22 Illinois counties removed lettuce, green peppers, red onions and tomatoes from restaurants during the period in which people who got sick reported eating at a Subway — May 11 to May 25, according to the department — and replaced them with new product, according to a Subway news release.

Subway sandwiches, where do you get your fresh ingredients? 34 sick with Subway Salmonella in 14 Illinois counties

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Fresh produce is yet again suspect as the Subway chain has voluntarily withdrawn lettuce, green peppers, red onion and tomatoes after a bunch of people got Salmonella at a bunch of Subway stores in Illinois.

Jared, this is not a weight loss strategy.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that 34 cases of Salmonella have been confirmed with this outbreak and all are recovering, of which 14 had been hospitalized.

Salmonella cases identified in this outbreak reported eating at Subway locations in 14 counties, including Sangamon, Schuyler, Christian, Bureau, LaSalle, Cass, Champaign, Peoria, Shelby, Warren, Macon, Ogle, Fulton and Tazewell. At this point in the investigation, no cases have reported eating at Subway restaurants in either northeastern or southernmost portions of Illinois. Illnesses are reported to have started between May 14 and May 25 and cases range in age from six-years to 88-years-old.

The specific type of Salmonella involved in this outbreak is a rare serotype called Hvittingfoss. Typically, only one to two cases of this type of Salmonella are seen in Illinois per year.
 

Illinois Subway still closed after illness outbreak

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Wash your damn hands so you don’t serve poop. That’s usually the key message when a shigella outbreak happens, although it could also be fresh produce grown in human poop.

Public health officials said Wednesday the number of people with confirmed cases of shigella associated with a franchised Subway restaurant in Lombard, Ill., has climbed to 78, with 11 of those individuals requiring hospitalization.

Dave Hass, public information officer for the DuPage County Health Department, said the Lombard Subway remains closed after two weeks, as his agency and the Illinois Department of Public Health continue to investigate the cluster of shigella illnesses. Ten of the 11 people hospitalized as a result of their illness have been discharged, he said.

Les Winograd, a spokesman for Doctor’s Associates Inc. of Milford, Conn., franchisor of the 32,502-unit Subway chain, said the franchisee at the Lombard store voluntary closed the restaurant after learning of the outbreak of illnesses.

Public health officials said shigella is spread through fecal contamination and that most people who are infected with the toxin develop gastrointestinal illness, such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach cramps, one to two days after being exposed.
 

New Food Safety Infosheet: Illinois Subway linked to Shigella sonnei outbreak

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My son Jack is almost 2 and has spread a whole load of illness through our house this week (fun stuff). A couple of his contemporary playmates had some suspected norovirus last week and likely the same thing has made our toliets work overtime. 

A 2-year-old boy in Illinois also experienced foodborne illness symptoms, although more serious than what we dealt with, in late February, after eating food from a Subway restaurant. The little boy, son of Ron and Sarah Bowers, has been identified as part of an outbreak of Shigella sonnei along with at least 20 other patrons.

This week’s food safety infosheet, a graphical one-page food safety-related story directed at food handlers, focuses on the outbreak.

Click here to download the food safety infosheet.

Chicago-area Subway shop shut after link to Shigella cases

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At least eight people are sick with Shigella and the common source appears to be a Subway restaurant in Lombard which has now been closed by the DuPage County Health Department.

Maryann O’Neill, principal of nearby Montini Catholic High School in Lombard, told the Chicago Tribune two students called in sick Wednesday with what she said was diagnosed as food poisoning, and it was her understanding they had eaten at Subway. One of the students was taken to a hospital emergency room.