Three people have died and three others have been hospitalized following a listeria outbreak at a burger restaurant in Tacoma, Washington. The Washington State Department of Health confirmed in an Aug. 18 release that the outbreak was linked to improperly cleaned ice cream machines at a Frugals burger restaurant. Only the Frugals restaurant located 10727 Pacific Ave. S., Tacoma is associated with the outbreak.
According to health officials, a total of six people – five people in Pierce County and one person in Thurston Countyand all between the ages of 40 and 79 – were hospitalized between Feb. 27 and July 22. Of those, three died. The Washington State Department of Health said “all six people had conditions that made their immune systems less able to fight disease.” Two of those hospitalized reported consuming Frugals’ Tacoma milkshakes before getting sick, and “genetic fingerprinting from the bacteria inside the milkshakes showed it was the same strain of Listeria that hospitalized the six individuals.
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), listeria, or listeriosis, is a serious infection typically caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. Young children, frail or elderly people, pregnant women, and others with weakened immune systems are at the highest risk. The health department warned that listeria can affect people up to 70 days after consumption, noting that the machines were in use through Aug. 7.
In a statement about the outbreak shared to its Instagram page on Aug. 19, Frugals said has been working with Pierce County Health Department (PCHD) to identify the source of the Listeria outbreak “after a test on a milkshake machine in our Tacoma store tested positive for the bacteria.” The restaurant added that was “deeply saddened” to learn that six people were hospitalized and three had died. The branch also stated that it has stopped selling milkshakes at all its locations and is following PCHD’s recommendations and sent its milkshake equipment to an independent facility to be cleaned and sanitized.
“We are heartbroken and deeply regret any harm our actions could have caused,” the restaurant wrote. “As a family-owned business for over 30 years, the trust of our customers is paramount. We will continue to fully cooperate with this investigation, and we are committed to making any changes deemed necessary to maintain our high standard of operations and prevent this from happening again.”
