It was all fun and games until spoiled food got the best of folks at the Belgrade Fall Festival last weekend.
Many people who attended the festival took to Facebook asking, "What the heck did I eat?"
“It may be really difficult to point to one particular thing, especially when we’re dealing with many different products served at the event,” said Gallatin City-County Health Department Health Officer Lori Christenson.
But thanks to an online form posted by the Health Department, Christenson has narrowed down the likely culprit: beef brisket.
The health department posted a warning on Facebook asking people to toss out any leftover brisket from the event.
According to data gathered from the health department’s form, over 200 people fell victim to the bad BBQ.
“Only one person who got sick didn’t eat the brisket, so that’s really indicative that the beef brisket was the cause of the foodborne illness,” said Christenson.
She says they’re still investigating what pathogen caused the outbreak.
“What we do know, is it caused gastrointestinal illness, which is pretty common,” said Christenson.
But not deadly, in this case.
Christenson says this outbreak, and the deadly outbreak in May linked to Dave’s Sushi, are the only reported outbreaks they’ve investigated this year.
Christenson says she wants to remind people to be mindful and preventative when preparing food, by making sure those cooking the food are not ill, washing hands, of course, and maintaining proper cooking and holding temperatures.
“The Belgrade Chamber of Commerce has been super cooperative with providing us with information,” said Christenson. "The participants of the event who’ve taken time to fill out the survey have also been super helpful to an investigation like this.”
The health department has posted two forms, one for people who ate at the event who did get sick, and another form for people who ate at the event who did not get sick.
