Honolulu E. coli Outbreak Prompts Safety Training
A worker from the Hawaii Department of Health put in extra hours this week to give E. coli prevention training to workers at Peppa’s South King restaurant as part of the agency’s response to the Honolulu E. coli outbreak that has sickened seven people.
Health officials have said four of the seven victims reported eating at Peppa’s before they became ill last month. And of the seven, four were hospitalized, including one who remained in serious condition.
In outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7, five to 15 percent of those infected develop life-threatening HUS TTP conditions that often produce long-term health injuries beyond kidney failure. Children are particularly prone to developing HUS from E. coli.
In the Hawaii Department of Health review of Peppa’s, investigators noticed food handling violations, which prompted an immediate shutdown of the restaurant on Thursday. The Honolulu Star Bulletin reported that a state worker involved in the training was on site with employees until midnight.
A cause of the outbreak has not yet been determined. Most often in E. coli outbreaks, the pathogens travel in meat, especially ground beef. Inside a ground beef patty or meatball, the organisms can survive cooking if internal temperators don’t reach 160 degrees. When cooking, color is not an indicator of whether meat has been heated to a safe temperature. Only a thermometer can effectively measure meat temps.
E. coli outbreaks also have been attributed to uncooked vegetables, especially leafy greens. Fruits, raw milk, unpasteurized cider, sprouts and some processed foods that aren’t cooked also have caused E. coli outbreaks.
