It’s Time All Restaurants Ban Raw Sprouts
Enough is enough. The Jimmy John’s E. coli outbreak in Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Kansas is at least the fourth sprouts-related outbreak of foodborne illness at that restaurant chain alone. A sprouts outbreak in Europe last year killed more than 50 people and the risk of bacterial contamination in sprouts is so severe that the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention advises they not be consumed by young children, older adults, pregnant women and others who have weakened immune systems. The following national press release went out from our offices this week calling for restaurants and other food service providers to stop serving raw sprouts.
MINNEAPOLIS, Feb 28, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Restaurants, commercial kitchens and other food service providers should cease serving raw sprouts of any kind unless an explicit food safety warning is provided on menus, national E. coli lawyer Fred Pritzker announced.
Pritzker, who represents victims of foodborne illness in practically every major U.S. outbreak, said that more than a decade of concentrated effort by regulators and sprout suppliers has failed to make raw sprouts safe to eat. The latest of far too many outbreaks has sickened customers of the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s in Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and Arkansas. Officials suspect pathogenic contamination in seeds sold to growers — a common source of poisoning in sprouts. Late last week, Michigan public health officials issued a statewide alert for citizens to avoid eating raw clover sprouts due to an outbreak of E. coli O26 associated with seven illnesses, including at least two victims who are confirmed to be part of the food poisoning at Jimmy John’s.
“These people suffered severe pain due to a collapse of food safety measures,” said Pritzker, one of four national figures chosen to debate the dangers of raw milk earlier this month at Harvard University. “If consumers are going to be put in harm’s way, justice demands they be forewarned.”
Many restaurants have already removed raw sprouts from their offerings. For those who persist in selling them in ready-to-eat food, an explicit public warning should be mandatory, Pritzker said. The warning should alert consumers to the risk of life-threatening virulent bacteria, he said.
Toxic E. coli is the latest pathogen to contaminate sprouts in a multi-state outbreak, but Salmonella and Listeria also have a history of harboring in sprouts sold into the food supply. A sprout E. coli outbreak centered in Germany last year killed more than 50 people and sent more than 840 to the hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
In just the past three years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has publicly tracked six separate sprout outbreaks that have sickened more than 4,500 people. And by the government’s own admission, FDA guidelines for seed suppliers and sprout growers would not have detected the strain of toxic E. coli in the Jimmy John’s outbreak.
“The only way to make sprouts safe is to cook them,” Pritzker said. “Serving them raw to an unsuspecting public is irresponsible and should be banned.”
E. coli outbreak victims and their families can contact food safety attorney Fred Pritzker by calling his law firm at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free). PritzkerOlsen, P.A. is a nationally recognized food safety law firm that has collected millions for E. coli food poisoning victims. The firm represents E. coli victims throughout the United States and has offices at Plaza Seven, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.
PritzkerOlsen Files a Lawsuit against Wegmans On Behalf of Pine Nut Salmonella Outbreak Victim
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a victim of the multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to Turkish pine nuts sold at grocery stores operated by Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., and distributed by Sunrise Commodities, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The lawsuit against Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities was filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Monroe County by PritzkerOlsen with local counsel.
In September 2011, the plaintiff purchased pine nuts at Wegmans and made basil pesto with them. After eating the pesto, she began to suffer weakness, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. Her condition worsened, and she was later admitted to the hospital.
The plaintiff was one of at least 42 people in five states who contracted a Salmonella infection after eating the pine nuts, according to the CDC. Most of the victims, 27 of them, are from New York. There are also eight victims from Pennsylvania, four from Virginia, two from New Jersey and one from Maryland.
“This outbreak was caused by a breakdown in the food safety systems designed to protect consumers” said food safety attorney Fred Pritzker. “After-the-fact testing conclusively proved that the Turkish pine nuts were adulterated with Salmonella Enteritidis. Had these companies properly tested the product in the first place, this outbreak would not have occurred.”
Public health investigators used DNA “fingerprints” of the Salmonella strain to identify cases of illness that were part of this outbreak. After laboratory testing linked the illnesses to pine nuts sold in bulk bins at Wegmans grocery stores, the company issued a recall of 5,000 pounds of Turkish pine nuts sold at 78 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland between July 1 and October 18, 2011.
Further tests by the FDA confirmed that Salmonella matching the outbreak strain was present on samples of Turkish pine nuts taken from a warehouse used by Sunrise Commodities. The recall was then expanded to include pine nuts that had been distributed to food vendors in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Canada.
Attorneys Fred Pritzker and Ryan Osterholm represent the plaintiff in this case. They can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or at http://www.salmonellaclaimcenter.com or www.pritzkerlaw.com. PritzkerOlsen, P.A. has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Contact
Pritzker Olsen, P.A.
Fred Pritzker
Phone: 612-338-0202
fhp@pritzkerlaw.com
Salmonella Egg Litigation Still Stirring Contacts
The following press release was published Tuesday by Business Wire in response to numerous contacts our firm is still receiving from victims of the Salmonella egg outbreak associated with Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa. More than 1,500 people across the country have been sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis since May.
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–One month after Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, announced its initial recall of shell eggs, law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is continuing to get contacts from people sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis.
The food safety law firm represents Salmonella egg outbreak victims whose illnesses date as far back as June. Founder and president Fred Pritzker, who is lead attorney for the firm’s egg recall cases, already has filed an egg lawsuit in Minnesota and is working on additional egg lawsuits for other clients from across the country. The Minnesota case stemmed from a cluster of illnesses among patrons of the same restaurant, Mi Rancho in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health traced it back to contaminated eggs from Hillandale Farms, also of Iowa.
Across the country, more than 1,500 individuals have suffered Salmonella Enteritidis infections that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has attributed to contaminated shell eggs from Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. According to CDC, the outbreak started in May, peaked in July and has continued into September.
Pritzker said the heavy volume of contacts from victims has prompted his firm to conduct its own investigation and he is hoping for court permission to inspect the egg farms as soon as possible. FDA inspection reports found unsanitary conditions and multiple violations of food safety laws.
“We’re getting complaints like crazy,’’ Pritzker said. “People are scared and angry because this outbreak should not have happened.’’
A person infected with Salmonella Enteritidis usually has fever, painful cramps and diarrhea beginning 12 to 72 hours after consuming contaminated food. The illness lasts 4 to 7 days. Children under age 5, older adults and others who have impaired immune systems may face more serious illness. In these patients, the infection may spread to the blood stream and produce arterial infections such as endocarditis and reactive arthritis, or Reiter’s syndrome.
PritzkerOlsen, P.A., represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). More information on the egg recall can be found on the firm’s blog, foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com. The firm’s offices are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Minnesota Woman Represented by Pritzker Olsen in Egg Lawsuit
The multi-state Salmonella egg outbreak traced by state and federal health authorities to two Iowa egg farms has resulted in more than 1,400 illnesses, including at least 14 confirmed Salmonella Enteritidis cases in Minnesota. Our law firm has been in touch with victims and has filed an egg lawsuit on behalf of a Minnesota couple from Mantorville. We are continuing to accept additional cases at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free).
Here’s a copy of the press release published today by BusinessWire:
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PritzkerOlsen, P.A., the national food safety law firm, has filed suit on behalf of a woman from Mantorville, Minnesota, who is a confirmed victim of the multi-state Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak linked to shell eggs.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Beltrami County, the woman ate at Mi Rancho restaurant in Bemidji, Minnesota, on May 7, 2010, and started getting ill a short time later. The Minnesota Department of Health determined that she and at least six other patrons of the restaurant were sickened by the same identical strain of Salmonella Enteritidis.
Shell eggs were identified as the likely source of the Mi Rancho outbreak and were traced back by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Hillandale Farms of New Hampton, Iowa. Eggs from Hillandale Farms were then included in an expanded egg recall of more than half a billion eggs that started with Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa.
Restaurant clusters like the one in Bemidji aided state and federal health investigators in framing the egg outbreak. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1,470 reported illnesses are likely to be associated with this outbreak, making it the largest Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak reported since CDC started outbreak surveillance in the early 1970s.
“Our client’s severe illness could have been prevented at several levels, but those with the ability to protect her from Salmonella poisoning failed to do so,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker, lead attorney for the firm’s egg recall cases. “Our client and the hundreds of others sickened in this outbreak deserved better.”
Pritzker Olsen is in contact with other victims and is accepting cases for additional egg lawsuits against Hillandale Farms and Wright County Egg.
PritzkerOlsen, P.A., headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. The firm is involved in virtually every major foodborne illness outbreak and has successfully obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). More information on the egg recall can be found on the firm’s blog, foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com.
Pritzker Olsen Files Suit for Bison E. coli Victim
Our law office has issued a press release about a Colorado buffalo E. coli lawsuit we filed this week in Jefferson County District Court with local counsel in Denver, Reilly Pozner LLC. This is the first lawsuit filed in connection with an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have associated with bison products recalled by Rocky Mountain Natural Meats of Henderson, Colo.
Keep in mind that the federal government bans E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef, but no similar prohibition or mandatory testing protocols are in place for bison.
GOLDEN, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A woman from Lakewood, Colorado, who was hospitalized for an infection of E. coli O157:H7 after eating bison meat has filed a lawsuit against Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, Inc. of Henderson, Colorado, the processor of the meat.
The woman is represented by Pritzker Olsen law firm in the lawsuit filed by local counsel on July 8, 2010, in Jefferson County District Court. According to the complaint, the woman purchased the bison product at a King Soopers grocery store in Lakewood, Colorado.
Health officials used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to confirm that the strain of E. coli that infected the woman was genetically indistinguishable from a strain isolated from other people in Colorado. According to the complaint, health officials then concluded that the woman was part of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to Rocky Mountain Natural Meats bison meat that now has six confirmed cases, five in Colorado and one in New York.
“This outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to bison meat is a wake-up call,” said Fred Pritzker, the attorney representing the E. coli victim. “In the past and currently, bison meat has not been subject to the same E. coli O157:H7 testing requirements as ground beef. Many people assume that bison meat is safer than beef, but that reputation needs to be re-examined.”
In response to the outbreak investigation, Rocky Mountain Natural Meats recalled 66,000 pounds of ground buffalo and bison steaks on July 2 that it said may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly bacterium that is banned in ground beef. The recalled meat was sold under the following brands: Great Range, Nature’s Rancher, The Buffalo Guys and Rocky Mountain Natural Meats.
“This outbreak and subsequent recall were preventable,” stated Pritzker. “It is in the best interest of consumers and the bison industry to require E. coli testing for bison products.”
Pritzker Olsen law firm represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). For more information, please see www.pritzkerlaw.com or foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com. Pritzker Olsen offices are located at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesot
Subway Lawsuit to be Filed by Pritzker Olsen
The following press release will go out today from our office. This represents our second lawsuit against Subway this year in Illinois.
For Immediate Release
MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire) — Food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of a woman from central Illinois who was hospitalized in the Subway Salmonella Hvittingfoss outbreak.
The 52-year-old resident of Tazewell County is one of at least 97 people who have tested positive for the same strain of Salmonella in an outbreak linked to more than 40 Subway locations in 28 Illinois counties. Pritzker Olsen is in contact with other victims.
Attorney Fred Pritzker said the client ate an oven-roasted chicken sub on May 11 at the Subway on 603 Jackson Street in Morton, Illinois. She was hospitalized for several days after suffering gastroenteritis and cramping with severe vomiting.
“Our client ate a sandwich and ended up in the hospital. This should never happen in our country,” Pritzker said. “Stringent sanitation requirements should be in place all along the food chain, and federal and state health officials should be given the authority and money needed to enforce the laws. Large restaurant chains should require suppliers to regularly test for Salmonella and other dangerous pathogens.”
Pritzker Olsen is also representing victims of a shigellosis outbreak associated with the Subway restaurant in Lombard, Illinois. The firm filed a lawsuit in March of this year on behalf of one of the victims, a resident of DuPage County, Illinois, who battled a severe Shigella infection for two weeks. The Subway lawsuit alleges that the outbreak was caused by sick food handlers at the restaurant.
Although contaminated food was the source of this current outbreak linked to certain Subway restaurants in Illinois, health officials are concerned that sick food handlers may continue to spread Salmonella Hvittingfoss. To prevent this, the Illinois Department of Public Health is requiring food handlers in 46 Subway restaurants to have two consecutive test results that are negative for Salmonella Hvittingfoss before being allowed to return to work.
For more information, visit http://www.pritzkerlaw.com or contact Pritzker Olsen law firm at 1-800-377-8900 (Toll Free). Pritzker Olsen offices are located at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
