6 sickened by E. coli linked to local food vendor at farmers markets
SEATTLE -- At least six people sickened with the same strain of E. coli have been linked to a local Mexican food vendor who operates at farmers markets, the county health department said Tuesday.
Three of the six are now in the hospital.
Seattle & King County Public Health Department said the local vendor runs Mexican food trucks and food stands at several local farmers markets, so it’s possible more people may have been exposed.
James Buder is heartbroken, seeing his 4-year-old daughter, Scout, being treated at Seattle Children’s Hospital.
“It’s not fair, it’s not anything she did. She wasn’t negligent in any way, she’s just this innocent little girl.”
In early August, their family went to the Issaquah Farmers Market and ate at a Mexican food stand.
“We all shared the next meal,” says his wife, Deanna. “In the next week, she started showing symptoms that now we recognize as symptoms of E. coli.”
They didn’t know for sure if Los Chilangos was to blame. But soon they heard about other people who had eaten there and also gotten sick.
“We couldn’t pinpoint it because we hadn’t eaten beef, and that’s what you think of when you think of E. coli. But it could be any vegetables that weren’t washed.”
The health department is now investigating. They say the owners of Los Chilangos have been cooperating.
“It’s a business that operates as a vendor at seven different farmers markets. They also operate two food trucks and they operate a catering company,” says Becky Elias, the manager of the health department’s Food Protection Program.
“We’ve been monitoring all those different avenues with them and ceasing all those operations for the time being.”
The commercial kitchen that they use has also been closed down. The health department says they’re not sure that this outbreak has anything to do with the fact that Los Chilangos runs food trucks.
“I can say we hold all our food businesses to the same food safety standard,” says Elias. “We find, in our inspections, food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants perform at the same level.”
But the Buders say the fact their daughter is sick is proof that the level of safety isn’t high enough.
“There are people who failed the appropriate measures to keep our community safe. And those people need to be held accountable.”
Los Chilangos put the following message on Twitter Tuesday night: "We are very, very concerned about the people who have become ill and are working diligently with Health Officials at this time."
For more on this situation, click here for the health department's website.