Caterer blamed for kids’ illnesses

More than 100 preschoolers at 10 South Florida daycare centers stricken with vomiting and diarrhea likely ate contaminated ham or turkey, the Florida Department of Heath has found.

The state faulted Healthy Children Catering in a report released Wednesday, saying the students were likely exposed to staph bacteria due to mistakes in food preparation at the Hialeah caterer.

The Nov. 7 gastrointestinal illness outbreak affected 117 children enrolled in eight Miami-Dade daycare centers and 32 children at two Broward County schools, the state said. The Broward County children were enrolled at Ave Marie Friends Preparatory School in Lauderhill and Kidtown Early Learning Center in Fort Lauderdale.

An inspection found the caterer improperly prepared the food and didn’t correctly monitor time and temperature controls, the state said. The report concluded the violations created an environment where staph could multiply and produce enough toxins to make someone ill.

Nineteen Ave Marie Friends Preparatory School children out of 21 who became ill from food poisoning visited emergency rooms and two were hospitalized, the report said. Rooney Ford, a co-owner of the school, declined to comment and referred a call to his lawyer, Chris Smith.

“We’ve contended since day one that it was not us,” Smith said. “We’re still investigating because we anticipate there may be litigation by parents. Luckily all the families and kids are safe, and all the students except one have returned to the school.”