Health officials are awaiting laboratory results after players, coaches and parents became sick following a catered taco-bar meal.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — An unlicensed home-based catering business was ordered to stop operating after at least 45 people became sick following a Rock Island High School football team dinner, forcing the school to postpone its homecoming game, health officials said.
The illness outbreak followed a Sept. 24 dinner in the high school cafeteria attended by about 75 football players, coaches and parents. The meal was provided by Sunshine and Spice, a home-based catering operation in Moline. City and county health officials said the business was not licensed or food-safety certified when it catered the event. The investigation remained open as officials awaited laboratory testing of food seized after the outbreak.
The dinner began at about 5:30 p.m. and included fajita chicken, seasoned taco beef, cheese, flour taco shells, cheesy pepper beans, cilantro corn rice and pico de gallo or salsa. By 11 p.m., 23 players, five coaches and three parents were experiencing symptoms consistent with foodborne illness, according to information provided to health authorities by a team trainer. At least 45 people eventually reported becoming sick.
Officials said those affected experienced vomiting and diarrhea. No one was hospitalized, although one student saw a doctor. Most of the reported symptoms ended within about 24 hours. The Rock Island County Health Department advised the school to delay its football game until affected players had been free of symptoms for at least 24 hours.
The homecoming game was postponed and later played a day after its original date. Rock Island-Milan School District 41 said student-athlete well-being was its priority and that district leaders and the athletic director were reviewing guidance for coaches, extracurricular activity leaders and families regarding meals connected with school activities.
Rock Island City Health Inspector Andy Swartz met with Sunshine and Spice owner Joshua Harris during the investigation and determined the business lacked required licensing and food-safety certification, according to local officials. Swartz ordered the catering operation to cease immediately and provided information about steps it could take to become properly licensed.
Harris apologized to those who became sick and said Sunshine and Spice was cooperating with the investigation. He said the business had catered for parents connected with the school before and denied intentionally providing unsafe food. Harris also told officials that ingredients for the meal had been obtained from several stores and farmers markets in the Quad Cities region.
Officials seized leftover food from the dinner for laboratory testing. An Illinois Department of Public Health survey of affected attendees found that 92% had eaten the cilantro corn rice, while 88% reported eating the chicken, cheese and flour taco shells. Authorities had not announced that any particular food item caused the illnesses, and those consumption figures alone do not establish the source of the outbreak.
As of the latest confirmed reports, health officials had not publicly identified the pathogen responsible for the illnesses. The investigation remained active pending laboratory results, while Sunshine and Spice remained under an order to cease operations unless it completes the process required to operate legally.
Author note: Last updated October 7, 2026.