Critical health violations found in kitchen used by daycares after E. coli outbreak

Escherichia coli bacterium, otherwise known as E.coli. Photo: Adobe Stock

Alberta’s chief medical officer of health says there three critical violations were found at a central kitchen serving Calgary daycares affected by an E. coli outbreak.

More than 200 people have fallen ill from the bacteria since the outbreak at 11 daycares was declared a week ago.

Dr. Mark Joffe says the kitchen was closed immediately on Sept. 4 and that likely prevented the outbreak from being much worse.

He says the violations, found the following day, related to food handling, sanitation and pest control.

Alberta Health Services said as of Monday afternoon there were 231 lab-confirmed cases.

Twenty-five children and one adult were receiving care in hospital, with 21 severely ill.