The company says Jessup employees have been sickened by bad noodles

Dozens of workers at a Jessup seafood distributor were taken to the hospital Monday after eating a pasta dish that was prepared outside the company, company officials said Tuesday.

Two representatives from distributor NAFCO said employees fell ill about three hours after eating pancit, a Filipino noodle dish. The representatives declined to give their names but spoke to reporters at the NAFCO facility's main office Tuesday morning.

A company statement described the incident as an isolated incident and said NAFCO did not provide meals to affected employees or distribute the food to the general public.

“It's unfortunate because we're in the food business, but this happened in our parking lot,” a representative said. “If there’s anything positive here, it’s that we have a huge staff here for food safety and all those contingencies.”

When employees showed signs of food poisoning, 911 was called, officials said.

According to the Howard County Fire and Rescue Department, first responders and paramedics arrived at the 7700 block of Chesapeake Bay Court around 3:45 p.m. According to the fire department, emergency crews from Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties provided assistance.

According to the district fire department, 46 people were examined and taken to surrounding hospitals.

Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center was treating 26 patients for food poisoning on Monday, said Tia Mason Howard, director of hospital communications. All patients had been discharged by Tuesday.

Lisa M. de Hernández, communications director for the Howard County Health Department, said the agency's preliminary assumption is that all affected people are employees of the same company.

The health department plans to interview those affected as part of its investigation, she said, adding that officials are trying to locate everyone in Howard and other counties.

The most important thing, de Hernández said, is that there is no danger to the public.

In a social media post Tuesday, the county health department said it was working closely with the Maryland Department of Health to investigate the cause of the incident.

“Preliminary indications suggest that the illness was related to food prepared by an employee and shared with others in the facility,” the department said on X. “At this time, we are not aware of any risk of additional illness associated with this incident.” ”

NAFCO is one of the largest seafood retailers in the Mid-Atlantic region and does not sell its products directly to the public. Workers affected by the reported foodborne illness were asked to stay home Monday as a precaution.

“NAFCO continues to investigate yesterday’s incident in which dozens of employees became ill after eating food during their shift,” the company said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “The investigation has preliminary revealed that an employee prepared food at his home over the weekend and ended up distributing the home-made food to colleagues who were ill yesterday. In the hours following the lunch break meal yesterday, nearly 50 employees showed symptoms of food poisoning, most of whom were treated and released from area hospitals. NAFCO wishes those affected a safe and speedy recovery.”

The company emphasized that “no consumers or other points of sale were affected by this incident” and that the company “adheres to the highest standards of food safety and regularly undergoes strict controls by health authorities.”

“Its products continue to be safely manufactured and consumed by customers across the country and there are no issues related to its supply chain,” the company said.

Company officials previously interviewed said they were concerned about the impact the incident would have on their business and customer base. They plan to implement a new policy prohibiting employees from trading goods, including food or other products, on the premises, they said.

“We want our customers to feel safe,” a representative said. “We’d really like to put this down.”