最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥� Officials on Friday said test results show that the lettuce taken from a local catering company was not infected with E. coli, the bacteria that sickened over 100 people at events here this month.

John Armengol Jr., the owner of Andre's Banquets & Catering,听said 最新杏吧原创 County officials wrongly suggested that his company was the source of the E. coli outbreak in early November.

"While I am relieved to learn of the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory鈥檚 negative test results, I will continue to cooperate with the state and local health departments as they now work to determine the source of E. coli that has caused illnesses in the region," Armengol said in a statement.

But the state health department said that the negative test only applies to one unopened package of iceberg lettuce. And the county health department said the test doesn't rule out Andre's salad as the source of the E. coli outbreak.听

"The lettuce results do not change the course of our investigation," 最新杏吧原创 County spokesman Doug Moore said in a statement. "A negative test result for the lettuce does not conclusively rule out the salad as the source of the E. coli outbreak. This is because bacteria like E. coli often occur in isolated pockets within food products, making it possible for a sampling event to miss the pathogen entirely."

And at least one lawyer who has already filed suits against Andre's said Friday's news isn't good for the caterer.

"I don鈥檛 think Andre鈥檚 has thought this through yet,"听said Jory Lange, a Texas-based national food poisoning lawyer. "I think they think testing negative gets them out of it. It doesn鈥檛 exonerate them. In the outbreak, it is clear that it will be traced back to Andre鈥檚. At the end of the day, Andre鈥檚 is going to be liable."

"Without being able to blame a supplier," Lange said, "it鈥檚 just Andre鈥檚."听

The catering company found itself at the center of the E. coli outbreak over the weekend when 最新杏吧原创 County health officials said that 64 suspected or confirmed E. coli cases were tied to two Rockwood Summit High School events that had featured food from Andre's 鈥� one at the school and the other at an Andre's location.

On Monday, the number of cases jumped to 94. On Tuesday, it rose to 97, and officials said they were connected听to five different events听all catered by Andre鈥檚:听the two at Rockwood, plus two funeral-related events on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, and an Oakville Senior High School band banquet on Nov. 6.

By Thursday, the number of cases rose to 106 and听two people had developed听hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that causes blood to clot, and can damage kidneys and other organs, according to the Mayo Clinic.听

Rockwood and Mehlville school districts said 13 students had been hospitalized, most of whom have been released.听County spokesman Moore said the county did not know how many in total had been hospitalized.听

On Friday, the fifth听lawsuit was filed听against the caterer. It said the plaintiff, Tina Graham of Fenton, consumed food prepared by Andre's on Nov. 7, got sick four days later, and was hospitalized for three nights.

Lange said he is in contact with about two dozen people who fell ill. One said that while she was at the hospital, a doctor said he was treating several patients in the outbreak and noted not all of them had eaten the salad, but they all reported eating roast beef served by Andre's at those five events.

State health officials, however, have said only that they collected a lettuce sample from the business. On Friday a spokeswoman said that the unopened package of iceberg lettuce was not infected with the bacteria.

"Results relate only to the items tested and apply to the sample as received," wrote Lisa Cox, spokeswoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

She referred additional questions to county health officials, who are handling the investigation.

Moore, the county spokesman, said a positive test result could have indicated the product came to the caterer already contaminated. The negative result doesn't necessarily indicate the absence of the bacteria or eliminate Andre's as a source.

He said the testing was just one critical element in the investigation.听

"While testing and sampling are crucial, the weight of epidemiological evidence strongly supports a focus on the salad, not the sample of the lettuce, as the outbreak source," he wrote.

On Friday, Armengol听said the iceberg lettuce tested by the state came from the same supply served at the events.

He also said "individuals" have gotten sick from E. coli who didn't eat at one of the five events. County and state officials have not corroborated that statement.

And he again maintained that Andre's had nothing to do with the outbreak.