A Bitter Taste

The 27^th annual Taste of Chicago was a success, with the exception of one vendor being linked to a recent salmonella outbreak at the Chicago food festival event. It has been discovered that vendor Pars Cove Persian Cuisine Restaurant was the culprit, serving bad hummus throughout the ten day event.

An estimated 3,600,000 people attended the event over the Independence Day holiday, surpassing all previous years food ticket sales, making it the most successful Taste in Chicago history, unfortunately it has been marred by the outbreak.

The Chicago Department of Public Health visited the restaurant, located at 435 W. Diversey Parkway in the heart of Chicago, and discovered several violations including unsanitary conditions, improper refrigeration and mouse droppings. Health inspectors visit food vendor booths at least four times a day during the course of the event and threw out food several times from the booth in question.

Salmonella bacteria is the cause of much of the food poisoning cases throughout the world. It is commonly linked to anywhere animals are located and recently the bacteria has been associated with fruits and vegetables but one of the most common methods of transmission is person-to-person, when a carrier's feces unwashed from the hands contaminates food during preparation.

Often mistaken for stomach flu, salmonella symptoms can last from 24 hours to 12 days and can include headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, nausea and dehydration. Recommended treatment is plenty of fluids to help the body flush the bacteria and pain relievers and fever reducers may be used to make the patient more comfortable.

To prevent the spread of salmonella, it is highly recommended that you wash your hands after using the bathroom before handling food. Common sense right? Apparently not with people that are from third world countries where health standards are not as strict as in the U.S. Which brings us a whole different problem.

When my ancestors came to this country, they needed to be processed through Ellis Island, where they were examined by health care workers for any signs of infection or illness. Those that were discovered ill were sent back to their country of origin. Today, there is no "Ellis Island" and the problem with illegal aliens in America is at epidemic proportions.

In a city with the ethnic diversity as Chicago, foreign people have been bringing their home country's habits and standards to us everyday. Like the couple from India that lives next door to me, where the woman is forbidden to talk with her neighbors. The husband obviously has a contempt for women and takes this attitude to American women. Women that fought for their rights and won years ago, but are now subjected to this disrespect.

It's just an annoyance that American citizens have been forced to accept.

But all in all, The 27^th Annual Taste of Chicago was a tremendous success. The fireworks were spectacular, the music was awesome, the smells of food from 70 vendors was intoxicating and the weather cooperated making the 2007 Taste one of the years best Chicago outdoor party.