Salad bar restaurant probable source of E. coli that sickened seven

Sometimes even when you're trying to eat healthy, you can't.

Seven people who ate at a Souplantation restaurant in Lake Forest, California, recently contracted E. coli, a potentially dangerous bacterium, MSNBC reported.

Six of the seven were children; the other was in his 70s.

"Usually very young children or older adults with ongoing medical conditions already are more susceptible to developing a more severe form of this infection if it's not treated early," a spokesperson for the Orange County Health Care Agency said.

Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. operates restaurants under the names Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. Ken Keane, the company's president, said in a statement that the company was working with health officials to investigate the contamination source and "remain committed to the highest level of quality, cleanliness and service.... The health and welfare of our guests and employees is always our top priority."

Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes are serve-yourself salad-buffet restaurants.

My family and I have enjoyed dining at Sweet Tomatoes in the Atlanta area for years. I hope that the company and the health department can locate the source of this contamination and see that it doesn't recur.

Update, Friday, April 6: Three more people, two children and a man in his 50s, have been reported to be infected with the rare strain of E. coli bacteria traced to the Souplanation restaurant, People's Daily Online reported. None had to be hospitalized.

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