Watermelon Linked To E. Coli...08/01/00

MILWAUKEE -- Contaminated watermelon may have caused some of the more than 40 cases of food poisoning linked to a Sizzler restaurant, the city health commissioner said Monday.

Restaurant customers who ate watermelon were eight times more likely to be sick that those who did not, Health Commissioner Seth L. Foldy said.

At least 42 people became ill in July from E. coli bacteria that health officials have traced to the Sizzler restaurant on Milwaukee's southside. One child, a 3-year-old girl, died. Another victim has filed a lawsuit.

Foldy said health officials are not blaming the watermelon for making people sick, but rather bacteria that may have been transferred to the melon.

That means the bacteria on the outside of the melon could have been transferred to the inside when it was cut, he said. The bacteria was present for more than a day because people were contaminated on different days, Foldy said.

Tests of items from the restaurant found a raw beef product that tested positive for E. coli. The Sizzler has been closed since Wednesday.