Caterer's fine upheld after salmonella cases

After an Audubon, Minn., woman challenged a fine imposed by the Minnesota Department of Health for operating a catering business without a license, a judge agreed that the $10,000 fine was appropriate, the state announced this week. Though Anna Brown has a Certified Food Manager license, she didn't have a license to prepare commercial food out of her home kitchen. She used that kitchen to prepare food for two wedding receptions that took place on the same weekend in August 2010, one in Detroit Lakes and the other in Lake Park, Minn. At least a dozen attendees, including one of Brown's employees, became ill and the state confirmed seven cases of salmonella poisoning. One person was hospitalized for four days. Read the full administrative law judge's ruling here.