Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time where families, friends and even churches open their doors so that people can come eat, break bread and enjoy each other’s company. But one Thanksgiving gathering at a church turned deadly.
It is the 5th anniversary that three people died and five others were sickened after eating a Thanksgiving meal prepared at Antioch’s American Legion Hall by a local church, according to a California Contra Costa County Health Services spokeswoman, CBS San Francisco reported.
This serves as a sobering example of what not to do with your food at Thanksgiving each year.
All eight people were admitted to Sutter Delta Medical Center at various times on the Friday and Saturday after that Thanksgiving Thursday.
Out of the 835 people who at the meal, three people died, four were treated and released and one person remained hospitalized for over a month, according to the hospital.
Autrey James, commander at American Legion Post 161, said Golden Hills Community Church was responsible for preparing the meals on Thanksgiving.
“We are extremely, extremely upset that anyone lost their lives,” James said. “We were not ourselves involved in the cooking of the meal.”
The cause of the deaths and illnesses is still under investigation, said Health Services spokeswoman Victoria Balladares.
Veteran Esidor Alviar was among hundreds of people at the dinner Thursday and said he too experienced some symptoms later in the evening.
“It was a nice dinner, turkey, stuffing, cranberries and coffee,” Alviar said. “About one o’clock in the morning, I had cramps and a terrible stomachache. I had to run to the bathroom really bad. I was sick. I thought about going to the hospital, but I hate hospitals.”
At a news conference in Martinez Monday evening, Contra Costa Health Services officials said all the victims were elderly and belonged to the same unidentified care facility. But others from the same facility who ate at the Thanksgiving meal did not get sick.
“If it were a food-borne outbreak, we’d expect to see a lot more people getting sick,” Balladares said.
Could it be that these people who were sick and died had a weaker tolerance to the illness that struck them? Or did these people eat the same food before they came to the Thanksgiving dinner? Investigators are still putting pieces of the puzzle together.
Food-borne illnesses cause nearly 48 million illnesses and around 3,000 deaths each year.
Bacteria multiply rapidly between 40 °F and 140 °F. To keep food out of this “Danger Zone.” It’s important to always keep cold food cold and hot food hot.
Quick tips to remember when Going Over Someone’s House for Thanksgiving:
– Store food in the refrigerator (40 °F or below) or freezer (0 °F or below).
– Cook food to a safe minimum internal temperature.
– Cook all raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, and roasts to a minimum internal temperature of