Vermont state investigators have now identified the DNA of Shiga toxin in packages of unopened beef used at the Worthy Burger in South Royalton, and now believe that the source of the food borne illnesses, E. coli, linked to the restaurant came from under-cooked hamburgers. The investigation is ongoing, however, because when the bacteria were cultured, they grew a “slightly different strain” than the stool cultures in the victims of this outbreak. Nonetheless, one of the lead health surveillance epidemiologists with the Vermont Department of Health, Bradley Tompkins, has confirmed that health investigators believe the beef to be the source of the outbreak, and under-cooking that beef led to the spread of the pathogen.
Tompkins stated: “It’s certainly not conclusive that it did come from the ground beef, (but) based on the interviews that were done with the patients and that we found the E. coli and the Shiga toxins … we do believe the outbreak was caused by the ground beef that was being under-cooked from the restaurant.”
Worthy Burger has been at the center of the investigation since mid-September after at least 8 of the victims reported having eaten at the Worthy Burger sometime at the end of August through mid-September. These reports led to a shutdown of the restaurant for five days and an investigation that led investigators to sample certain food – the one that tested positive for Shiga toxin, a byproduct of E. coli, was the ground beef. Tompkins has confirmed that there are now six confirmed and three probable victims in this outbreak – so far, no reports of deaths or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) have been reported.
Worthy Burger often states, with pride, that it uses local sources for products in its food. And while this is a selling point that is popular with many consumers, Worthy Burger has now been forced to change out most, if not all, of its suppliers out of an abundance of caution, including its local beef supplier which it had been using for about two and one-half years. And now the USDA is investigating the source of the beef as well. A USDA spokesperson confirmed this fact, but said the agency was not prepared to name which slaughterhouses were under investigation at this time.
According to Ron Simon, a national food poisoning lawyer, there are likely at least two entities that need to be held accountable in this outbreak. The meat supplier was selling adulterated beef, including beef that contained E. coli, and Worthy Burger failed to follow proper food handling and preparation guidelines by failing to ensure that the hamburgers were cooked to 155 degrees for a minimum of 15 seconds to kill pathogens like E. coli.
For information about the Worthy Burger E. Coli outbreak, or any other food borne illness outbreak, call 1-888-335-4901.
