Construction workers at a Miami-Dade County site suddenly became violently ill. The fire department responded and notified the health department. Health department personnel found that the food sold by a vendor at the construction site was from an unlicensed source and that health codes had not been followed by one of the suppliers. Specimens were collected from five of the ill workers and were positive for Staphylococcus aureus. The only common item eaten by the ill persons was a rice dish served with eggs and meat from the vendor truck. This is believed to the be vector of the pathogen as the rice was probably bought from an unlicensed vendor.