By Courtney Mintenko

Regina restaurant Flip Eatery and Drink closes after E.coli cases

Oct 2, 2012 | 6:04 PM

The Regina Qu'appelle Health Region confirms that Flip Eatery and Drink in the city's downtown closed voluntarily Tuesday after five customers were diagnosed with E.coli.

Staff at the restaurant aren't returning phone calls or answering the door.

The first case linked to Flip Eatery and Drink was found on Sept. 24, according to the health region. The common link between all five cases was eating at this restaurant.

The health region can't say if these cases are linked to the recall of beef from XL Foods because not all five ate beef. One of the five was sick enough to be hospitalized.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan Health announced that 13 cases of E.coli were confirmed in the province.

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E.coli has been the centre of attention as Canadians have seen a list of recalled beef expand. However, it is not just during a recall that people can become sick from E.coli.

Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said it is not uncommon to see cases during the barbecuing season. It is also possible to get infected while working on a farm, for example. He outlined proper food handling practices as a way to reduce the risk of becoming infected, but said any recalled products should not be eaten.

During September, three cases of E.coli were diagnosed in people within the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region. The rest of the 13 cases were found in Saskatoon's health region and the Sun Country Health Region in southeast Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says two to three cases of the 13 are suspected as being linked to the XL Foods beef recall. That is based on what patients said they have eaten recently. Testing by the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg will “fingerprint” the E.coli strain found in the samples submitted to determine if that is the case.

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