Director of Dining Services Michael P. Berry, reached at his home last night, said he believed the onslaught of illnesses was the result of food poisoning.

"Rosenthal believes the incidents are coming out of the Freshman Union," he said.

Berry said that two dishes the Union served at lunch, the veggie pocket and fusilli, may be causing the illness.

Berry said this is the first incident of food poisoning in his four years as director of dining services.

"We serve 1,800,000 meals per year, and 20 million meals for all of Harvard in the four years I've been here," he said. "This is the first time this has happened."

Rosenthal said Environmental Health and Safety administrators had been notified. They were to begin an investigation with UHS and dining services officials at 5:30 this morning, Berry said.

The dining staff follows a specified protocol when a large number of students become ill, according to Berry. A response team composed of the executive chef, unit manager and assistant manager of operations met to discuss the poisoning this morning, he said.

A team of sanitation consultants will take samples and send them to a lab for testing, Berry said. The Union kitchen will also be completely sanitized, he added.

Berry said that such an incident is inevitable considering the amount of food served in the Union.

"I've always told the staff at some point we will have a foodborne illness," he said, "and I take full responsibility."

Although Berry and UHS administrators apparently agree the illness is related to food poisoning, students at UHS ate varying meals at different dining halls. Some consumed neither the veggie pocket nor the fusilli, the two dishes Berry mentioned.

Berry said, however, that the source of the illness can be tracked by examining the time of onset.

"Certain illnesses won't come on for 18 hours," he said. "Onset time is food-specific."

Violent Vomiting

Dana Goldblatt '98 went to UHS three hours after her 6 p.m. dinner.