Suffolk County health commissioner says problem with cooked rice led to more than 2 dozen getting sick at Stony Brook restaurant
STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- Family parties on Saturday at a Long Island restaurant turned terribly wrong when more than two dozen people got food poisoning.
The Suffolk County Health Department has since allowed the restaurant to reopen.
Some customers are outraged and told CBS New York on Monday they are still recovering.
Saturday started out all smiles for the baby shower of Dawn Weinclaw's daughter at Kumo Sushi & Steakhouse on Nesconset Highway in Stony Brook, but by the end of the meal she says she felt off.
"While we were cleaning up, I was getting stomach pains and I felt something wasn't right," Weinclaw said.
The health department said at least 28 people reported symptoms Saturday. Weinclaw said 22 of her 23 guests who got hibachi fell ill, including her daughter, who is seven months' pregnant.
"Many people were very sick, little kids. My niece took home food and her young son ate the leftovers and then he was sick," Weinclaw said.
The health department said the illness was so bad for some people they went to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment, but no one ended up staying overnight.
"We got an emergency page from our fire rescue and emergency services, with multiple 911 calls for vomiting, suspected food poisoning," Suffolk County Health Commissioner Gregson Pigott said.
The health department around 4 p.m. Saturday police and more than a dozen fire departments responded, and shut the restaurant down.
The commissioner said "corrective actions were taken" and the establishment reopened the next day, Sunday.
"We believe the culprit was the rice. This particular case, that rice was cooked and not stored at a proper temperature and what happens there is you have spores that live in the rice and after the rice is cooked if you don't have it at a proper temperature, these spores can reactivate and become bacteria," Pigott said.
Approximately 15 violations were issued, including eight for food-borne illness risk factors.
The restaurant referred CBS New York to an attorney, who declined an interview. Via email, he said, in part, "The owners of this long-standing local business take these matters very seriously. ... (Health inspectors) found all refrigeration in good working condition. They noted that the cooked hibachi rice was not being rapidly cooled. They reviewed those guidelines with the staff and the new procedure was immediately implemented."
"I'm just kind of scared to eat food right now. Give it another day or so," customer Diana Anderson said. "It's just scary that they've been allowed to operate under such conditions."
One patron who ate there Wednesday said she had steak teriyaki and felt sick. She and those who ate there Saturday reported no foul smell or taste.
CBS New York did ask the restaurant's attorney about allegations it also had issues on Wednesday, but he didn't get back to us. The health department said the restaurant did have previous violations, but didn't elaborate.