That is very scary! Not a good look for the restaurant.
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A few years ago several people died from botulism from eating potato salad served at a church supper in Ohio near where my mother lives. Home canned potatoes were the culprit. I’ve never seen the attraction of canned potatoes - I rarely buy frozen potato products.
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Seriously… no fries, tots, hash browns, etc? Do you always fry your own or just avoid them in general?
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I can see why people canned potatoes before they had electricity or freezers. That said, our potatoes keep in a root cellar until May. I guess canned potatoes were for people without root cellars or freezers.
I guess some Amish or old order Mennonites might can potatoes if they don’t have root cellars and can’t use electricity?
Canned potatoes (presumably not going to get cooked again) going into a cold salad sounds like a bad combination.
I googled based on your description and CDC at the time called it one of the biggest outbreaks in nearly 40 years, with nearly 30 sickened.
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I don’t eat fries, tots or hash browns - just don’t care for them. I will make home fries with leftover cooked potatoes, though, and used leftover mashed potatoes in fishcakes.
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That reminds me, I have tater tots in the freezer that I need to use up.
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Awful.
Though I had always thought part of the danger of botulism was that it had no odor/taste?
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Those sardines probably had more than one problem.
"What brought the three of us together was the joy of experiencing a meal together and I hope that this doesn’t discourage people from continuing to experience that,” Chartier said in an interview.
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I guess trauma or a brush with death can also bring people together?
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I see; that’s true.
I was thinking that I’m going to be a bit less cavalier about my dining, at least for awhile. And I’m heading to New Orleans in a few days.
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I hope you have a wonderful and food-safe time!
Church bbqs and company picnics can be deadly and sadly it can happen in the home in the home kitchen.
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Is there any of us who hasn’t eaten our own cooking against our own better judgment and paid the price? Fortunately ita usually juat a day or two of discomfort but we’ve all been there Im sure.
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I haven’t done that yet.
What I have done, is eaten restaurant food or other people’s cooking, that I know looks a little underdone , or tastes a little funny, because I’m too embarrassed to leave it on the plate, and then I’ve become sick.
I’ve gotten much better at leaving restaurant food that tastes bad on the plate, but I’ve run into one arguments with an older restaurant owner demanding to know why I left the shrimp on the plate.
I’m Canadian, and people tend to dance around the facts. The owner was Greek, a culture that can blunt or direct.
He asked me why I didn’t eat the shrimp, after the server had told him I left them uneaten. I told him they weren’t to my taste.
He then asked why I ordered shrimp if I don’t like shrimp.
I told him I didn’t like these particular shrimp.
He asked me why I didn’t like these shrimp.
I finally told him the shrimp didn’t taste as fresh as I would like them to taste.
He told me had smelled the shrimp that morning and there was nothing wrong with them.
We had company with us and it was an awkward situation. 
We knew the restaurant owner, who was getting up there, and I know it sometimes hard not to take something personally when someone doesn’t like the food you’ve prepared. (But he was the owner, not the chef, taking it personally here!)
I have thrown out fish and meat that I’ve cooked that’s smelled or tasted off. It’s happened about 7 times with fish or oysters I’ve bought in the last 3 years, and once with lamb.
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Always better safe than sorry, anywhere! By experience I am a very, very careful of food safety in my purchasing and consumption. Last New Year’s eve the jarred oysters I bought for oyster stew at the grocers (after my fish monger ‘lost’ my order of fresh) smelled and tasted just fine and the use by date was just fine, but I got seriously ill. No more jarred oysters.
One visit long ago to the asparagus festival one spring in (this time it was a very tasty asparagus bisque) nearly put me in the ER. No more food vendors at a festival.
A visit to a local food truck for a ridiculously huge and tasty burrito did me in for a week. No more food trucks.
Potluck Parties? What is safe and what is suspicious? Got exposed to Hep A at a school potluck and had to do the vax. Who can you trust?
At this age I’ve learned my lesson slowly. Sensitive tummy, no way to get around it, I pack my own.
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No more Black Sambuca for me!
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Tator Tot hot dish!
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