TOKYO — One person died and nearly 150 others fell ill after eating roasted eel prepared by a restaurant chain and sold at a department store near Tokyo, authorities said. Among the sick, two required hospitalization.
Keikyu department store said that as of Monday 147 customers had reported symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea after eating grilled eel dishes sold in the grocery section of the department store based in Yokohama, near Tokyo, between the 24th and on July 25.
Japan has a tradition of eating roasted eel as a heat tonic during the hottest days of summer.
A woman in her 90s died after developing symptoms, but the exact cause of her death is being further investigated, the Yokohama city health center said. Two other people were hospitalized, but the others’ symptoms were milder, she added.
The only common denominator among the sick was grilled eel, sold separately or as part of lunches served with rice, prepared by the Tokyo-based restaurant chain Nihonbashi Isesada and sold in department stores, the center said. of health. More than 1,700 servings of roasted eel were sold at the store, Keikyu officials said.
The health center detected staphylococcus aureus – or staphylococcus –, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, in excrement samples of those affected.
Keikyu and Isesada department stores apologized for the food poisoning and promised to cooperate with health officials. Isesada executive Soichiro Tomita acknowledged in a televised news conference that some cooks were not wearing plastic gloves.
The health center said it temporarily suspended operations at the Isesada store on the grocery floor and its restaurant on another floor of the department store while they examined the cause.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
