Wright’s Farm open again after post-noro cleaning

Wright’s Farm restaurant is open again following a week-long clean up after 30 patrons came down with norovirus after eating there.

According to WPRI a child barfing in the dining room was the cause of the outbreak.

Wright’s owner Frank Galleshaw told Eyewitness News they cleaned and sanitized every inch of the building, and double-washed every utensil and dish.vomit

“Steam cleaned our carpets, rugs, cleaned our kitchen. Cleaned all of the tables, chairs, sanitized everything, sanitized our walls, windows, pictures,” he said. “Then we ran our plates, silverware, salt pepper shakers, we emptied all of those out, and ran everything through our dishwasher two times just to make sure that this place was ready to open up and everything was clean and sanitized.”

Cleaning and sanitizing after vomit events are tricky. The virus particles can spread about 10 feet from the vomit spot and can persist for weeks. Lee-Ann Jaykus and I submitted an issue to be discussed at the Conference for Food Protection about written procedures for cleaning up vomit events to be included in the FDA Model Food Code.

30 sick, noro suspected: Rhode Island investigates Wright’s Farm Restaurant

The Rhode Island Department of Health is investigating Wright’s Farm Restaurant in Burrillville, R.I., NBC 10 News has learned.

wright's.farm.riApproximately 30 people became ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after eating at the popular restaurant on Sunday, according to the Health Department. Some of those students include members of Bryant University’s men’s lacrosse team.

The team was originally scheduled to be play on Tuesday, March 15 against Siena, but the game was postponed due to a stomach virus they announced.

“Based on their symptoms, we believe it to be norovirus, but we don’t have test results back yet,” Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for the Health Department told NBC 10 news.

Denise Senosk of Brookfield, Mass. and 12 other family members, who were at the restaurant as the same time as the Bryant lacrosse team, ate the chicken dinner at Wright’s on Sunday. Unfortunately, eight of the 13 people became ill, she told NBC 10 News.

Nothing was out of the ordinary with the food that she noticed, but she said a little boy vomited not far from where they were sitting in the restaurant.