Dozens Sickened by Food at Minneapolis Festival

Health officials say dozens of people including children became sick after eating guinea pig meat and other dishes at an Ecuadorian festival in Minneapolis, Minn., this month.

At least 81 people went to HCMC and Minneapolis Children’s Hospital with severe gastrointestinal symptoms after eating food served by one of the festival’s vendors.

The Minnesota Department of Health says numerous ill individuals have tested positive for salmonella.

A spokesman for Hennepin County Public Health tells the Star Tribune some of those who fell ill ate a traditional Ecuadorian dish that contained guinea pig meat, but others who didn’t eat that dish also got sick. All of those who got sick were treated and released.

Health officials first heard about the illnesses a few days after the Ecuadorian Independence Day festival.