UPDATE: Schnucks Salad Bars Focus of E. coli Outbreak

As the St. Louis County Department of Health investigates an E. coli outbreak, health officials are looking into reports that some of the infected patients mentioned visiting  stores before falling ill.

"One of the focuses that we are looking into at this time is salad bars in Schnucks stores," Health Department spokesperson John Shelton told Patch Tuesday. "Many of those we have interviewed said they have purchased and eaten items from Schnucks salad bars. We have not narrowed it down to a single item on a salad bar."

Shelton told Patch that health officials are still in the middle of the investigation and he is not sure when a source may be identified.

"We have not interviewed all the people and tested all the samples," Shelton said. "It's a 37-page questionnaire we ask them. This is very time intensive."

Schnucks stated in a press release that while  has not officially been identified as a source in the on-going investigation, Schnucks has "voluntarily and proactively removed all items in question from salad bars across the company."

Health officials said 16 cases of the bacteria were reported in St. Louis County over the last week since people began falling ill. Shelton previously confirmed to Patch that six people were hospitalized and treated at  in Creve Coeur. He stated the source of the E. coli is food-borne.

See more on the situation in .