Salmonella outbreak linked to Moby Dick House of Kabob hummus

For Moby Dick Express manager Mehrod K. Javan, the news of a salmonella outbreak within the restaurant’s staple hummus is a total surprise. From his view, the restaurant is generally well-received by the campus community and the Health Inspector, and cleanliness in the workspace is of great priority to the staff. 

However on September 27, a week after the first three cases of salmonella were reported to the campus, Dr. David McBride of the University Health Center sent out a notice stating that the Maryland Department of Health’s investigation into the matter found that “eight of nine confirmed cases reported consuming Moby Dick House of Kabob hummus.” As of October 18, the UMD Health Center confirmed four more cases, bringing the total affected to 13.

Javan understands that in the eyes of the public, he is the one responsible for rectifying this matter. As such, he said that he has taken this as an opportunity to reformat operations.

“Personally, I’d like to close down for a little bit and just change things up,” Javan said. “You know, just kind of give our community a fresh new look of just, ‘Hey, we’re willing to take a hit to make it better for all of us’.”

According to a 2017 interview in Eater DC with Moby Dick vice president Ned Daryoush, “the company runs its own commissary kitchen — an 18,000-square-foot facility in Hyattsville, Maryland, where all the featured meats are prepared, yogurt and hummus get made, and trucks deliver bulging sacks of basmati rice.”

“We actually had an issue with a distributor with some materials that we were getting, years back, relative to some of the ingredients that were in the hummus and we had to discontinue our relationship with them,” Javan said. “This time around we’re all just kind of dumbfounded as of, ‘What really happened?’” 

For junior Sean Errington, the news of the outbreak is disappointing. A former consumer of the express shop’s chicken, hummus and vegetarian options, he said a return could happen only if they took the proper steps to address the contamination.

“I used to eat at Moby Dick all the time,” Errington said. “But recently I found it hard to justify eating somewhere with a health concern.”

Per its website, Moby Dick House of Kabob “serves authentic Persian and Mediterranean inspired food in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC.” The 30-year-old chain was named by the Washington Business Journal as the sixth-largest greater-D.C.-based restaurant chains, boasting of 24 locations, including an express stand in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union. In 2018, it won a prestigious Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington presented RAMMY Award for Favorite Fast Bites of the Year. As the recipient of one of the highest honors celebrating “the exceptional ability and accomplishments of the hard-working individuals and organizations of the region’s restaurants and foodservice community,” Moby Dick prides itself on tradition, authenticity, and love and made a “commitment to only using the highest quality ingredients and never cut corners.”

Though Javan would prefer to close, he says there hasn’t been a demand for that. Rather is the support of their customers that has kept them going.

“When things like this spawn I like to look at it as an opportunity,” Javan said. “Maybe we’ve been doing well for the nine years that we’ve been here, but clearly it’s time for a change. I’m the last person to want to blame my staff or anybody, it’s just how can we make it better to reduce any unnecessary issues in the future.”

As an individual who has been working in this industry for three decades, Javan owns the trials and tribulations, and demands and necessities of the ever-changing industry. He constantly strives to make things better, which he says is the true objective of his work.

In a move of accountability, the hummus was removed from sale and the chain has hired outside sources from the Health Department to conduct their own investigation into the incident. 

For Javan, pinpointing the issue and ensuring it gets fixed is what must be done to move forward.

“The hope is we never give anyone any reason to bring about any red flags regarding our services or our ethics or just the way we operate,” Javan said. “All we can do is try our best and that’s what we’re doing.”