
Nine of 52 employees test positive for Salmonella
According to the LA Times, 44 cases of Salmonella linked to a popular Oaxacan restaurant in the Santa Clarita Valley in mid-September resulted in its temporary closure
Madre Oaxacan Restaurant in the Valencia area. It comes after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health shut down the restaurant on September 18 following a Salmonella outbreak that sickened 44 people.
The county inspected the restaurant and slapped it with a “C” grade for multiple health code violations. County officials shut down the restaurant, per procedure when an establishment is linked to an imminent health hazard for disease transmission. Public health officials said this week they continue to investigate the outbreak.
The same day as the closure, county officials inspected the restaurant and gave it a “C” grade for some minor and critical violations (restaurants in L.A. County can remain open with a “C” grade). The most serious included food debris and mold buildup in the deep scratches and etches of a cutting board surface in the food prep area and the dishwasher being unaware of proper sanitizing procedures when manually washing wares, according to the inspection report.
Nine of 52 employees — including three cooks, a prep cook and a dishwasher — tested positive. Most were asymptomatic. A worker who buses tables and tested positive fell ill on Sept. 17 but didn’t tell anyone at work he wasn’t feeling well. A bartender who tested positive called in sick on the day of the restaurant closure.