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Summarized by Kent Larsen
One Dead, Hundreds Ill After Pasedena Stake Dinner
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA -- An 80-year-old woman died and as many as 200 became
ill after eating dinner at a luau put on by the Pasadena Stake September
16th, and health inspectors are inspecting the kitchen where the food was
prepared, looking for the cause of the illnesses. Pasedena Stake President
Randall Huff told reporters that four or five people went to hospitals for
brief treatment, but only the 80-year-old woman, who had pneumonia and
possibly cancer in addition to the gastrointestinal ailment, died.
About 1,200 people attended the September 16th dinner, which included a menu
of roasted pig, teriyaki chicken, cabbage-based salad with oil and vinegar
dressing and bread rolls. Water was served with the meal. But confusingly,
people got ill no matter what they ate, leading investigators to believe
that the problem did not originate in the food. "Some people ate only salad
and got sick. Some people ate only rolls and got sick. Most people ate
everything and didn't get sick," Huff said.
Inspectors were working on the kitchen Wednesday, according to Mel Lim of
the Pasadena Public Health Department. An autopsy on the woman, Mildred Mabb
of Temple City, was conducted, but Lim couldn't comment on whether food
poisoning was detected. Her son, Wayne Mabb, 48, said his mother felt fine
after the luau, but by the next morning she was so ill that the family
called paramedics. Mabb said doctors told him after her death that she had
an existing condition, probably cancer.
Source:
Kitchen used for Pasadena Luau inspected after hundreds sickened
Sacramento CA Bee (AP) 5Oct00 D1
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