Salmonella outbreak closes restaurant, but owner still caters wedding, NC official says
The day after a salmonella outbreak shut down his restaurant, a North Carolina business owner was catering a wedding, officials say.
Ten people got sick after dining at Doug Sauls’ BBQ and Seafood in Nashville, leading health investigators to focus their attention on the eatery, the News & Observer previously reported last month.
State officials “identified salmonella present in equipment and food that is likely to cause an immediate threat of serious adverse health effects,” the Nash County Health Department said at the time.
The restaurant closed, and its operating permit was suspended on Nov. 22, the department said in a news release.
But the next day, the owner was handling food again, William W. Hill Jr., Nash County’s director of health and human services, said in a phone interview with McClatchy News Wednesday.
The man who ran the Nashville business admitted to preparing food, which he said wasn’t cooked at his shuttered restaurant, according to Hill.
It was for a catering event in Wilson, roughly 50 miles east of Raleigh, The Wilson Times reported.
Steven Sauls is now accused of a misdemeanor public health violation for serving food without a permit, state court records show. His business on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Nash County health director says he hasn’t heard of any wedding attendees getting sick, and the incubation period has likely passed.
Doug Sauls’ BBQ hadn’t reopened as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the health department.
At the time its doors temporarily were forced to close, the restaurant on Facebook said: “Our family wants to sincerely apologize for anyone who has gotten sick.”
The restaurant owner was “very cooperative” when the salmonella outbreak was announced, Hill said last month.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Salmonella outbreak closes restaurant, but owner still caters wedding, NC official says."
