UPDATE: Schnucks Salad Bars Testing Negative for E.Coli, But Still of Interest

As the St. Louis County Department of Health investigates an  E. coli outbreak, health officials are looking into reports that some of the infected patients purchased and ate food from stores prior to falling ill.

There are 26 people that have tested positive for the E. coli strain 0157:H7 with six cases pending. Of the positive cases 20 of those are St. Louis County residents, the St. Louis County Health Department said in a news release Tuesday. The cases began being reported last week as people began falling ill.

Compare that to 2010, when St. Louis County had just five cases of E. coli reported.

"One of the focuses that we are looking into at this time is salad bars in Schnucks stores," Health Department Spokesperson John Shelton told Patch Tuesday. "Many of those we have interviewed said they have purchased and eaten items from Schnucks salad bars.

"We have not narrowed it down to a single item on a salad bar."

A spokesperson with the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services and Shelton both told Patch that so far, the samples tested from the Schnucks salad bars have come back negative for E. coli.

"We're not saying that we have every case in hand or that we've collected every sample," Shelton said. 

While there is a correlation between Schnucks and this outbreak, the health department has not yet determined what that is, according to  spokeswoman Lori Willis  who discussed the matter with Patch via email Tuesday.

"They are following a number of leads at this time," she said. "No source has been pinpointed and none of the tests have come back positive for E. coli." 

Health officials are still in the middle of the investigation, and Shelton tells Patch he is not sure when a source may be identified.

"We have not interviewed all the people and tested all the samples," he said. "It's a 37-page questionnaire we ask them.

"This is very time intensive."

Schnucks stated in a press release that while the grocer chain has not officially been identified as a source in the on-going investigation, Schnucks has "voluntarily and proactively removed all items in question from salad bars across the company."

The St. Louis County Health Department released the following information Tuesday in its news release.

• Of the 26 people E. coli has infected that have been interviewed thus far, 20 reported shopping at Schnucks.
• There are 17 people that reported having eaten something from a Schnucks salad bar.
• Right at 35 percent of those who have been infected with E. coli did not report eating food from a Schnucks salad bar.

"Although a portion of the investigation has been looking at Schnucks salad bars (and salad bars in general) to see if there is any connection to the outbreak, no such link has been established," the health department's release stated. "Other aspects of the investigation continue to examine other possibilities since 35 percent of those affected did not report having eaten anything from a Schnucks salad bar."

Shelton previously confirmed to Patch that six people were hospitalized and treated at in Creve Coeur. He stated the source of the E. coli is food-borne.

Last week, Willis told Patch that when  got news of the outbreak from the health department, it began taking precautionary steps by pulling some items from its salad bar. 

"To date, no tests taken from Schnucks stores have come back positive for E. coli and no original source has been pinpointed, but Schnucks Food Safety is taking every possible precaution," Schnucks stated in the news release Monday. "Health officials report that Schnucks stores were mentioned during some of the recent patient food histories spanning 7 – 10 days. This is not surprising in that Schnucks, by sheer number of stores (66), is the dominant salad bar operator in the St. Louis metropolitan area." 

Schnucks' release also states that as more cases of E. coli are reported across the country and outside of Schnucks' area of operation, store officials feel additional research is needed. 

"It’s important that health officials are able to target an item or items in order to track this outbreak back to a source," the release stated.

Schnucks is deferring customers with questions about the E. coli outbreak to the St. Louis County Health Department at 314-615-1600.

Shelton is advising concerned consumers to toss out any produce they may be concerned about.

"When it doubt, throw it out," Shelton said. "It's not worth taking the risk if you think it might make you sick."

Shelton also advises people to thoroughly wash all produce before eating it. Schnucks Markets Inc., operates 66 stores in the St. Louis area.

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