Los Angeles After over 80 people became ill after consuming raw oysters during a celebration honoring the city’s top eateries, Los Angeles health officials are looking into a norovirus outbreak.
Oysters have been recalled, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Health, and people were ill after attending an event on December 3.
According to the newspaper, many who were ill went to the Hollywood Palladium, a theater on Sunset Boulevard, for the Los Angeles Times101 Best Restaurants celebration.
The newspaper said in its promotion that some of the city’s top chefs from Michelin-starred restaurants would be attending the Times event.
According to the health agency, the recalled oysters include Pacific Northwest Shellfish Co.’s Fanny Bay Select and Fanny Bay XS oysters that were packed on or after November 25.
On December 13, the recall was announced. According to a California Department of Health recall notification, the oysters were collected from many locations in British Columbia. According to the report, the oysters were also sold under the Royal Miyagi and Buckley Bay brands.
Due to possible norovirus contamination, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning on December 18 to eateries and merchants in 14 states and the District of Columbia not to serve or sell oysters that had just been harvested in certain areas of British Columbia.
According to the Los Angeles County health authority, the incident is still being looked into.
Diarrhea and vomiting are caused by norovirus. Fever, bodily aches, and stomach pain are possible additional symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, symptoms often start to show up 12 to 48 hours after exposure. According to the report, it is the most prevalent foodborne infection in the US.
In its cautions about the disease, the Washington State Department of Health states that when sewage enters oceans and the virus enters the water that the shellfish dwell in, oysters and other shellfish absorb the virus in their bodies.
An NBC News request for comment late Friday afternoon was not immediately answered by a Los Angeles Times spokesperson. However, in its own report on the matter, Times spokesperson Hillary Manning informed the Times that the oysters were sourced from a Santa Monica shellfish company and supplied to one of the restaurants.
“We take food safety very seriously and have produced culinary events for many years,” Manning replied in an email to the Times. We had procedures in place, as we do with every one of our events, and according to an inspection by the L.A. County Department of Public Health, we complied with all applicable safety regulations. We are also aware of how carefully each chef and eatery prepares and serves the food in our neighborhood.
Jonathan Gold, the Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic for the newspaper and a local celebrity, established the 101 Best Restaurants List in 2014. At the age of 57, Golddie passed away in 2018.
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