Unrefrigerated Food Blamed for Making 23 Ill

County health officials said Monday the food poisoning that struck 23 guests at a Pacoima wedding apparently occurred because food prepared for the celebration had not been properly refrigerated.

Toby Staheli, spokeswoman for the County Health Department, said investigators questioned family members and friends of the wedding party who had prepared dishes for the celebration Saturday afternoon and determined that some of the food apparently had gone bad after being left unrefrigerated for several hours.

“The cause appears to be the lack of refrigeration of the food,” Staheli said. “At this point, it looks like the food was left unrefrigerated overnight.”

Officials said 23 people were hospitalized after the wedding at the Iglesia de Dios church, which was attended by about 150 people. Officials said the bride and groom, Francisco and Elba Orellana, family members and other guests provided the wedding spread that included home-prepared chicken tacos, cheese enchiladas, tostadas and cake.

Officials said the victims complained of nausea, headaches, diarrhea and cramps after eating, but no one was seriously ill. All were treated at hospitals and released.

Though wedding guests said that only those who had eaten the dishes containing cheese had gotten sick, Staheli said health investigators had not traced the cause to a specific dish or ingredient. Staheli said tests on samples of the food and an investigation are continuing.

“It was the food, period,” Staheli said. “We have talked with a person who had prepared some of the food and that person has explained that the food was left unrefrigerated.”

Officials at Grocery Warehouse, a Panorama City store where cheese for the wedding spread had been bought, removed the same type of cheese from the store’s shelves after the food poisoning was reported. But Staheli said the Health Department had not asked that such precautions be taken.