It’s long been the Bartlett family’s tradition to order food from Costa Vida before watching a Boise State football game together. They didn’t know that following dinner and Boise State’s win over San Diego State on Nov. 1, they would begin feeling violently ill.
That night, all six family members who had eaten food from the Costa Vida on South Innovation Lane in Meridian began to experience intense vomiting, abdominal cramping and diarrhea within three hours of one another, according to Jennifer Bartlett.
The two who picked up food from a different Costa Vida location were the only ones who felt fine.
“I’m a nurse, so I’ve dealt with a lot,” Bartlett, 50, told the Idaho Statesman by phone. “I honestly have never in my life seen anything so violent. It hit so fast. There was really no warning that you were getting sick.”
Customers report symptoms after eating at Costa Vida
Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 13, food safety tracking platform iwaspoisoned.com received 54 reports of people experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms shortly after eating at the South Innovation location. The website helps public health agencies and food brands discover potential food-poisoning clusters. Some users reported having to go to the ER for gastrointestinal issues within 24 hours.