Mystery may forever remain over cause of Harris Teeter sushi illnesses, officials say
Tests failed to reveal what in sushi sold at two Harris Teeter stores in Concord sickened at least 159 people, Cabarrus County health officials said Friday.
Six samples were tested for a range of pathogens, and all turned out negative, Cabarrus Health Alliance officials said Friday.
That could be due to the samples being collected after the pathogen completed two incubation cycles, alliance officials said. At that point, the pathogen would no longer be active at a level that lab testing could detect, according to the alliance, which is the county’s health department.
“The collection of food and specimen samples did not align with the incubation cycles, which resulted in the cause of this food borne outbreak to be inconclusive,” Chrystal Swinger, the alliance environmental health director, said in a statement.
Health officials said they consider the outbreak over because no more illnesses related to the sushi had been reported as of Dec. 1.
At least 159 people were sickened last month by sushi from AFC sushi bars at Harris Teeter stores at 358 George W. Liles Parkway NW and 1245 Concord Parkway North, health officials said.
Symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea, fever, muscle aches and abdominal cramps, according to the alliance.
After the outbreak, Harris Teeter suspended sushi production and sales at the store on George W. Liles Parkway, as recommended by environmental health officials from the health department.
Harris Teeter previously discarded all sushi products from the two stores, and the departments where the sushi was sold underwent a “thorough deep cleaning and sanitation,” Danna Robinson, Harris Teeter communication manager, said in a statement.
AFC is short for Advanced Fresh Concepts Franchise Corp. The California-based company franchises the sushi bars. AFC officials did not respond to phone and email requests for comment by The Charlotte Observer.