The Minnesota Department of Health received a report of gastrointestinal illnesses following a Mothers' Day Smorgasbord in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 9. The county health department investigated this claim and identified 33 other illnesses. The restaurant where the smorgasbord was held was inspected and a guest list was compiled. Upon inspection of the restaurant several food handling violations were noted, including: a broken soap dispenser; cross-contamination storage issues; cracked ice scoops; a lack of proper hand washing instruments; no chlorine test strips for the sanitizer containers. The caterer was not a certified food manager. Food history interviews with the patrons did not implicate any specific food item. Stool samples from eight patrons tested positive for the same strain of Norovirus. The health department concluded that the outbreak was due to contamination of food from an ill attendee as two of them reported illness within three hours of the meal.