Boise-area caterer sued over claims its food sickened dozens of wedding guests with E. coli
An Idaho couple has sued a Nampa catering company that they say sickened dozens of people at their wedding with E. coli-tainted food.
Lawyers for Oliver and Anna Frick said as many as 70 guests became ill after eating food prepared by Horsewood Catering during the couple’s August 2022 wedding. According to the lawsuit, the groom became sick shortly after the wedding, and guests began reporting symptoms that included vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps in the following days.
In a statement provided to the Idaho Statesman through its attorney, the catering company said it is “aware of this situation and is taking the present allegations seriously.”
According to data collected by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, 70 of the 110 guests reported symptoms of E. coli poisoning, as did five of the seven vendors who ate the catered food at the wedding. Of the five samples tested from symptomatic individuals, only one had a lab test that confirmed the presence of enterotoxigenic E. coli — the specific strains of the bacteria that cause illness — in a stool sample.
In its statement Horsewood Catering pointed out the single confirmed case and said enterotoxigenic E. coli “is a strain of E. coli often associated with international travel, and one or more of the event attendees were from overseas.”
Health and Welfare “inspected Horsewood’s facilities and evaluated Horsewood’s food preparation procedure with the owners and staff,” the statement said. “The department found no violations and took no action against Horsewood after its investigation.”
An agency report said lab culture tests found E. coli bacteria grew from samples of leftover tri-tip steak and cauliflower served at the wedding. A polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test was done on the E. coli growths cultured from the leftovers to look specifically for enterotoxigenic E. coli DNA. Health and Welfare said those PCR tests were “unable to detect” such DNA in E. coli growths.
The report noted that there was no hand washing station near the area where food was being served and said an employee was slicing well-done and medium-rare steak using the same utensils.
The outbreak report noted the medium-rare steak had been cooked to 130 degrees — 15 degrees cooler than the temperature recommended to kill pathogens.
Health and Welfare officials noted they were “still unsure exactly where (the E. coli) originated from, but the information we have collected has led us to suspect that the food was the vehicle for transmission at the wedding.”
According to the lawsuit, Horsewood catered other events the same weekend without any similar issues, and a Health and Welfare inspection of its facilities turned up no violations.
The Fricks’ lawyers said the couple endured financial loss, emotional distress and other damages exceeding $10,000.
This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 12:19 PM.
