OMG, and just after the season started last night...

It appears that Top Chef contestants gave out food at a street fair, and the NYC Health officials have reported cases from people who had eaten at their booth.

24 people went to the hospital and 3 people died. The outbreak has been traced back to the Top Chef kitchen and production has been shut down.

"It seems that some of contestants may have cut a few corners in the 'Make a meal out of raw meat in 8 minutes' quickfire challenge," said co-host and head judge Tom Colicchio. "In hindsight, we probably should have more thoroughly checked their work before letting them serve it at a Brooklyn street fair."

When asked for comment, Padma Lakshmi responded,
"All I have to say is that anyone convicted of spreading E. Coli will likely find themselves in danger of elimination at our next judges' table."

Nice Padma.... I prefer Mrs. Joel to you anyway...

UPDATE: This may or may NOT be true. I've look into it further, and not found alot of information that isn't citing the same article.