JOHNSON COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities continue investigating a suspect for the alleged contamination of food at the Hereford House, 5001 Town Center Drive in Leawood, Kansas.
Jace Christian Hanson, 21, of Kansas City, has been charged with food adulteration, according to the Johnson County District Attorney's office.
On Thursday, the restaurant issued a statement on the investigation.
"Everyone connected with the Hereford House restaurant in Leawood is disturbed, even angered, by the food tampering that occurred at that locaon in April."
"Unil the release of the affidavit on Wednesday concerning defendant’s actons and statements, we were unable to publicly address the situaion as we were learning the details released by lawenforcement authorities at the same time as the news media and the public."
"Now, with the release of this information, we can make a few comments. First and foremost, we have always placed a high priority on the integrity of the food we serve our customers. We learned of the tampering on April 25, when the Leawood PoliceDepartment arrived at the restaurant asking to speak to the defendant, who had only been an employee for a month."
"They spoke with him, obtained the statements from him contained in the affidavit and took him into custody. We immediately destroyed all the food in the kitchen and did a thorough cleaning andsanitizing of the kitchen and surrounding areas."
"We also immediately spoke with the health authorities from the State of Kansas responsible for restaurant inspections. We described the situation and the steps we had taken thus far. We asked if there were other steps we should take and they indicated we had taken all the appropriate steps. We continue to stay in touch with the state health authorities to keep them apprised of developments."
"Based on the affidavit, we can now also narrow down the number of days the defendant was working during the time he was tampering with food."
"According to the affidavit, the defendant says the tampering occurred between roughly April 6, and April 23. In that span, the defendant worked 12 days."
"We want to thank the Leawood Police Department for their quick action on the April25, tip from the FBI that the potential for food tampering at the Leawood restaurant was occurring."
"We will continue to work with law enforcement authorities and report any further information we learn to our customers."
"Finally, we want to thank our loyal customer base. Please know that we are just as upset and disturbed by this situation as you are. And we will continue to work hard to earn your trust and business."
On April 25, the Leawood Police Department received a tip that the restaurant may have someone intentionally contaminating food.
Police immediately began an investigation that led to the Hereford House, 5001 Town Center Drive in Leawood, where detectives spoke with restaurant management to identify a suspect 21-year-old Jace Christian Hanson of Kansas City. He remains jailed on a $100,000 bond, according to online jail records.
If you ate at the restaurant between March 26 and April 25, 2024, and later experienced health issues, please contact Leawood Police: [email protected] or 913-266-0696.