Andre’s Banquets and Catering tied to at least 97 E. coli illnesses at 5 separate events – two lawsuits filed

According to press reports, as the number of cases continue to grow, health officials on Tuesday said they have now linked an E. coli outbreak to five events, including a banquet at Oakville Senior High School, that were all catered by the same company. 

One of the 97 cases was connected to an Oakville High band banquet at Andre’s Banquets and Catering on Nov. 6, said Doug Moore, a spokesman for St. Louis County Executive Sam Page. The student who became ill after the banquet was hospitalized but has since been released, said Mehlville School District spokeswoman Jessica Pupillo. “We hope to not have any more (cases) but we are keeping our eyes peeled,” she said.

Two catered funeral-related events on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 were also linked this week to the outbreak, Moore said Tuesday. He did not provide the locations of those events but said one was at a South County church. Moore said that at all five events, people who fell ill had eaten salad provided by Andre’s. State health officials have visited the catering company, Moore said, and food from the business is at a lab for testing.

He said the agency is continuing to investigate. “The health department is focused on trying to track how many of these events may have been involved and that’s their priority right now,” Moore said.

Officials initially had said that the E. coli cases were linked to two events: one on Nov. 7 when the Rockwood Summit High School marching band gathered for dinner at Andre’s South on Telegraph Road in St. Louis County, and one honoring veterans the next day at the school that was catered by Andre’s.

County officials on Tuesday said the number of confirmed and suspected cases had increased to 97, up from 94 on Monday.

Meanwhile, Mary LaPak, a spokeswoman for the Rockwood School District, on Tuesday said there were two Rockwood students still hospitalized. That was down from three hospitalized on Monday and 12 students in the hospital over the weekend.

William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. 

Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses.  He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.

E. coli:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $900 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products.  The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s.  We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera.

If you or a family member became ill with an E. coli infection or HUS after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark E. coli attorneys for a free case evaluation.

Additional Resources:

• About E. coli – a complete online resource with information on symptoms and risks of E. coli infection
• About hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) – a complete online resource with information about acute kidney failure
• Marler Clark E. coli Lawsuits and Litigation
• A downloadable Family Health Guide

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.