According to Canadian press, the City of Calgary said Wednesday it has laid charges against a shared kitchen — used by several daycares experiencing an E. coli outbreak — for operating without the proper license.
This comes after an outbreak of shiga toxin-producing E. coli, which has resulted in 351 lab-confirmed cases and 37 secondary cases, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mark Joffe said.
During an investigation into the cause of the outbreak, investigators believe one meal has “extremely high odds” of being the source of the outbreak. According to Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, “based on our investigation, we believe that meatloaf and vegan loaf meals that were served for lunch on Aug. 29 most likely contain the E. coli bacteria that led to these infections,” he said.
The city said it has laid charges against Fueling Minds, a catering company which provided food to several daycares in the city. The corporation and its two directors have each been charged under the Business Licensing Bylaw for operating without a business license — for a total of 12 charges. If convicted, they could face a total fine amount of up to $120,000.
There were 19 daycares affected by the outbreak. Eleven daycares were linked to the original outbreak, with sick children at seven of those daycares, and secondary spread was found at an additional eight daycares.