On April 28, a report of a group of people who became ill after eating at a Hopkins, Minnesota, restaurant was made to the local health department. The party had eaten at the restaurant on April 24, so the health department began an investigation into the restaurant by gathering customer data from that day. A total of nine cases were found including employees. An environmental inspection of the restaurant found violations that could have led to contamination of the food by employees. These violations included a cloth towel at the hand washing station and improper storage of the ice scoop. It was determined the outbreak was due to food worker contamination of either preparation surfaces or ready-to-eat items.