The owner of Andre’s Banquets and Catering, John Armengol Jr., denies that the illnesses stemmed from his location and food. Armengol released the following statement Friday:

“We adamantly deny that our business was the source of the outbreak. The health department has not come to our business to test any of the food that was served. We served more than 3420 people among 31 Andre’s locations without any issues. More people would have been sick had it been the cause of an Andre’s outbreak….

The fact that the health department issued a press release with Andre’s name was not only reckless but defamatory to a business that has supported the community and provided safe environments and food for 44 years.”

However, according to the St. Louis  Department of Health, nearly 70 high school students and parents in Missouri were sickened by E. coli following two school-related events, and several people were hospitalized.

One of the events was an end-of-season banquet and the other a veteran’s event.

The department said individuals who tested positive for E. coli attended the two separate events hosted at or catered through Andre’s Banquets and Catering in association with Rockwood Summit High School. The salad served at both events is suggested as the source of illness, but there is no specific ingredient identified.