PEORIA Ill – The SexxyFood Incorporated annual 3 day food fetish convention, now in its ninth year, hosted its most memorable convention to date this past weekend, but not memorable for the reasons co-creators Ellis Byron and Harley Karolina-Szabados had hoped. A rampant outbreak of salmonella, attributable to the use of tainted peanut butter in the event’s hugely popular Peanut Butter Bounce House, left hundreds of convention-goers sick, sending dozens to the hospital, the latest victims of the nationwide peanut butter salmonella outbreak .

“We saw record numbers this year, we had an A-list of celebrity participants and performers lined up. An epidemic of vomiting and diarrhea is not something we had expected or planned for,” said Byron. “Peanut butter has always been a hot item for food fetishists, it’s spreadable, edible, it acts as a natural lubricant, it’s a great transition point for people wanting to move into safe dog play.”

“The Peanut Butter Bounce House has always been one of our most popular activities,” Karolini-Szabados said. “You can go in wearing a bathing suit, or nude; we leave it up to the customer. We recently extended the time limit to a full 30 minutes, 15 minutes longer than past conventions. We’re very careful about sanitation, we provide a variety of condoms on site, and we always, always, always clean the bounce house between uses with 145 degree water and a chemical wash. We really thought we were being safe.”

With a proven track record of success and satisfaction, and with safety as a top priority, event organizers were more than surprised when, on the second day of the convention, the laughter, bouncing, and amorous cavorting of giddy participants began to turn into a nightmarish scene of fully engaged fetishists succumbing to the rigors of explosive gastrointestinal upset.

“A person can start exhibiting symptoms of salmonellosis within 6 hours of exposure,” says Dr. Royce LaFond, who was employed in a volunteer capacity at the convention’s Fruit by the Foot booth when the outbreak began. “Unfortunately, the Peanut Butter Bounce House was stationed quite far from the lavatories. I mean, there are showers there, but the actual toilets were a good 200 feet away. It made it very difficult for people to control the illness in a hygienic manner.”

Spreading more than joy

One participant described the chaos as a “marvelous yet horrifying human canvas of browns, yellows, and greens.”

Fetishes are usually harmless, sex experts will say. “A fetish, when acted upon by willing participants, in an agreed-upon manner, should be a rewarding pursuit,” says sex expert, Peter Werfel. “I think most people would agree that this year’s fetish convention was not a rewarding pursuit, although those that found the salmonella outbreak invigorating should not be discounted.”

News of the illness, along with the smell, traveled quickly through the Peoria Civic Center. The third day of the convention, traditionally known as Funday Sunday, had to be canceled. Clean-up efforts will continue throughout the week.

Originally posted 2009-01-29 15:13:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter