ST. LOUIS COUNTY -- The head of a longtime St. Louis-area catering company is incensed over a claim that his business is responsible for an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 69 people and sent about a dozen to the hospital.
"This is reckless and defamatory," John Armengol Jr., the second-generation owner of Andre's Banquet and Catering, said on Saturday. "I'm in full 'defend' mode."
On Thursday, Rockwood School District released a statement that at least 19 students and family members at Rockwood Summit High School had tested positive for E. coli or were displaying symptoms that were "compatible" with a strain of the bacteria.
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By the following day, St. Louis County Department of Public Health officials put the number of people affected at 69. In a press release, the department said that those who had tested positive had attended school-related events that were hosted at or catered by Andre's, which has 31 locations across the region.
"Current details are suggestive of a salad being the source of illness," Sara Dayley, a department spokesperson, said in the statement.
On Nov. 7, the Summit marching band gathered for dinner at Andre's South on Telegraph Road in St. Louis County. The next day, Andre's catered an event honoring veterans at the high school, which is on Hawkins Road near Fenton.
Armengol said that more than 500 people had salad from the same shipment -- including students from Affton High School who attended a banquet at Andre's South on the same night as the Rockwood Summit event. No one else got sick, he said, and neither did anyone who ate one of the 3,200 Andre's meals served that week at its other locations.
Armengol declined to name the supplier of the lettuce, saying he wanted to talk to his lawyer first. But it was not possible that the salad was contaminated, he said.
"This is quality," he said of the supplier. "They handle all the big boys in town."
Armengol said he planned to eat salad from that shipment for lunch on Saturday.
'A common denominator'
Many types of E. coli are harmless. But 0157, the strain in the Rockwood Summit outbreak, produces a toxin that can cause severe diarrhea and lead to kidney failure, especially in young children or older adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The bacteria is commonly spread through undercooked meat, fresh produce or person-to-person contact. In October, slivered onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers were blamed for sickening more than a hundred people across 14 states. One person died.
"The last three or four months have been out of control," said Bill Marler, a Seattle-based attorney who has specialized in cases involving food-borne illnesses for more than 30 years.
Marler represented families who were affected by an E. coli outbreak traced to Jack in the Box hamburgers in 1993, which sickened more than 700 people and left four children dead. His law firm is currently suing McDonald's.
Two families involved in the Rockwood Summit outbreak have contacted his office, he said, and he anticipates he will likely file a lawsuit on their behalf.
"The reality is you've got two separate events and a common denominator of Andre's catering," said Marler.
Despite the high-profile fast-food cases involving beef, most E. coli outbreaks are linked to leafy greens, Marler said. It's common for the infection to be unevenly spread because the bacteria can be present on some leaves and not others.
"If I had a dollar for every time someone said, 'I served this to a thousand people and only a hundred got sick,' I'd be able to retire," he said.
'A big joke'
Armengol is standing behind the business his father started in 1980. Andre's has served food at more than 52,000 events over the past four decades with no problems, he said, and has never received a safety inspection with a score lower than 99.
Armengol feels like his reputation -- and the company's future -- is at stake.
"Food poisoning is the death of a food and beverage business," he said.
Armengol said he was contacted on Monday by a school district employee who told him that some students who had eaten Andre's meals had become ill. An inspector for the department of health came to Andre's in South County on Wednesday and Thursday to investigate. They found nothing questionable, Armengol said.
"Everything is money here," he said.
But he claims no food was taken for testing. He questions why the department would mention Andre's by name without hard evidence that the caterer was responsible for the outbreak.
"This whole thing is a big joke," he said.
In Friday's press release, the county department of public health said that a single source of the contamination had not yet been identified.
"Additional testing and data analysis are ongoing," the release said.
Meantime, Andre's has been fielding calls from the media and from clients with upcoming events who are concerned, Armengol said.
Doug Moore, a spokesperson for St. Louis County, did not respond to questions about Armengol's assertion that the department had not tested any food.
"The investigation is widening as more people come forward," he said in a text message. "We appreciate the cooperation of Andre's."
Information on the condition of the 12 people who were hospitalized was not available Saturday.
Armengol would not discuss whether he was going to pursue legal action but had fighting words for the department of public health.
"When they put my name out there, they have no idea who they are messing with," he said. "Heads are going to roll."
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