Multiple cases of illness have been associated with a Seattle sushi restaurant, prompting an investigation by the Seattle and King County Public Health Department.
Five individuals became ill after consuming food at Fuji Sushi, located at 520 South Main Street in downtown Seattle, according to a public health notice issued by the health department on Friday, September 27.
All five diners were from the same party and reported feeling sick after their September 16 meal.
Everyone in the group began to feel ill four days after their meal at the restaurant.
“All five people had one or more signs consistent with a bacterial infection, including feeling sick, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and chills, but other causes cannot be ruled out,” The health department wrote.
The eatery was found to have engaged in harmful procedures regarding the handling and preparation of food during an inspection by the health department on September 25.
“We found many unsafe food safety practices including restaurant staff not washing their hands properly and not wearing gloves when touching different food items. We also found the restaurant prepared food items in a way that allowed for ready-to-eat foods to be contaminated by raw foods,” the health department wrote. “Because of the many unsafe food safety practices seen at the restaurant, we closed Fuji Sushi immediately and they will not reopen until we revisit the restaurant to make sure they have fixed these problems.”
Workers were told to remain at home if they were feeling nauseous, and to come back to work only after a day without symptoms.
The exact culprit in causing the ailment has yet to be identified by the health authority.
