According to health reports, about 180 people reported becoming ill after the event and around half of those sought medical care, with 20 percent receiving emergency room care — 10 percent were hospitalized for one or more nights after eating chowder from the Crab Shack at the Chincoteague Chili Chowder Cook Off in late September.

However, Dr. David Matson made it clear Thursday that is was more important to suck up to the place that sickened 180 people with Salmonella.

“The risk is gone,” said the Eastern Shore Health District director. Matson traveled from the health department in Accomac about 45 minutes north to Chincoteague on Thursday to eat lunch. It was more than a mere lunch. The meal at the Crab Shack on Maddox Boulevard was Matson’s statement to the public — an endorsement, if you will —  that the restaurant’s award-winning clam chowder is safe.

It was also tasty — a lightly creamy, savory broth chock full of clams, along with potatoes, celery and carrots, with a hint of bacon, he said.

The health department on Monday identified the site as the source of a salmonella outbreak that occurred after the Chincoteague Chili Chowder Cook Off in late September. The establishment was identified in a news release Tuesday from the health district because there were additional ones also serving chowder at the event.