Several people came down with an illness caused by a type of bacteria

Hi cmccray26,
There are two sides to the argument at hand: Health officials & Test reports.
Both have their respective claims.
Health officials: Seafood (in-general/all) served was contaminated.
Test reports: Most people who ate seafood at the restaurant on that date had not come in contact with the bacteria in question.
Question stem asks us to find an option that helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy as much as possible.

(C) All and only those who ate contaminated seafood at the restaurant on that date were allergic to the monosodium glutamate in a sauce that they used.
This proves Health officials point to an extent but does nothing to test reports. Plus, what about the people who ate contaminated food but were not allergic to glutamate? second part also weakens the health official's claim.

(E) All and only those who ate a particular seafood dish at the restaurant contracted the illness.
This strengthens both claims and clears the air. Only some got sick and the ordered a particular sea food, which was contaminated.

Hope that helps.

I was stuck between D & E and decided to go with E.

However, can anyone help me with why D is wrong ?

Best regards,
Babar28

Paradox here is that only a specific group of customer came in contact of the bacteria and not all the customers of the restaurant.
Option D doesn't resolve that paradox.
"The restaurant in question had recently been given a warning about violations of health regulations."
Surely option D gives some indication that restaurant could be the place where they got the bacteria but doesn't explain why only few people came in contact, whereas option E helps us to resolve the paradox.

PowerScore Complete Question Explanation

Resolve the Paradox-CE. The correct answer choice is (E)

The author of this stimulus provides several facts regarding an outbreak of an illness caused by seafood bacteria, each case of which was traced back to the same restaurant at the same time. The paradox is this:

........................Most of that restaurant’s seafood diners did not come into contact with the bacteria.

........................Yet officials remained confident that the source of the bacteria was the restaurant.

The question stem requires us to find the answer choice which is consistent with both of the above premises; it will be the choice which somehow allows the officials to think that the bacteria came from the restaurant, in spite of so many of the restaurant diners’ having been spared exposure.

Answer choice (A): Immunity would not explain the apparent discrepancy between the confidence that the restaurant in question was the source of the bacteria, and the fact that many of the restaurant’s diners were not simply spared from the illness, they did not come into contact with the bacteria.

Answer choice (B): The officials referenced in the stimulus were confident that the restaurant’s contaminated seafood was the source—not a waiter—so this answer choice does nothing to resolve the discrepancy and is incorrect.

Answer choice (C): An allergy to the sauce is irrelevant to the stimulus, given the fact that officials were confident that the source was contaminated seafood, not sauce. This choice does not help to explain the paradox from the stimulus, so it is incorrect.

Answer choice (D): This choice might make it more likely that the restaurant was the source of contamination, but does not explain how the restaurant could be the source without the majority of its diners having been exposed to the bacteria.

Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer choice. If a particular seafood dish at the restaurant was the source of the bacteria, then it would make that most seafood diners (those who did not have the contaminated dish in particular) would not have come into contact with the bacteria at all. Because this choice resolves the paradox from the stimulus, it is the correct answer choice.

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.