Restaurant Had Dozens Of Previous Violations

The Country Cottage says a possible E. coli scare is a first.  A spokesperson for the family-owned business says in 22 years nothing like this has ever happened.  News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports the Oklahoma Department of Health inspected the restaurant for four hours Saturday and there were no violations so the restaurant hasn't been shut down.  Inspectors also went back to the restaurant on Monday.

Built from the ground up 20 years ago, Country Cottage built a reputation for good food.  But, now some who ate there last weekend say it made them sick.

The family who owns the restaurant released the following in a written statement:  "We have always held ourselves to the highest standards for cleanliness, food handling, and health compliance."

But, according to the state, inspectors have found 79 violations at Country Cottage over the past three years.  To gain perspective, The News On 6 compared that to several other restaurants in the Locust Grove area.   During that same time period, a popular national chain there had just 16 violations, while a local pizza place had 26. The News On 6 found only one restaurant with more violations than Country Cottage. It had 80.

Until people got sick recently, inspectors hadn't visited Country Cottage in almost a year.  Last year, there were three visits.  During one of them, the restaurant wasn't cited, but during the other two, inspectors discovered a total of nine minor violations.

In 2006 not only did the health department discover dozens of minor violations, it also found two that could make you sick.

In January, the restaurant was cited for improper hand washing/improper handling of ready to eat food and cross-contamination of raw/cooked foods.

Then, in December of 2005, inspectors cited improper holding of cold food, and again cross-contamination of raw/cooked foods.  Both can cause food-borne illnesses.

The health department says it's testing everything including the water at the restaurant.  In the meantime, the owners of Country Cottage claim some of the sick patients never even ate at their restaurant.  They say they're cooperating with investigators and their hearts go out to those who have been harmed.

They've decided not to open on Tuesday out of respect for the families.