Cheese Making Resumes at California Company In the Wake of Costco Cheese E. coli Outbreak
The California cheesemaker associated with an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 among Costco customers in five states has resumed making cheese. Bravo Farms of Tulare County told The Business Journal in Fresno that production restarted with pasteurized milk, not the raw milk used to make Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese linked to the outbreak.
Jonathan Van Ryn, co-owner of the company, told the newspaper that Bravo Farms might make raw milk cheese again but likely would age it longer than the 60-day requirement. He also said Costco is willing to do business with the company in the future but that there is no plan to sell cheese there in the next couple months. Van Ryn said no one determined how the gouda cheese became contaminated.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 38 confirmed cases of E. coli 0157:H7 in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada resulted from consumption of contaminated Bravo Farms cheese sold and sampled at Costco stores. The outbreak happened in October and November and one E. coli victim suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening complication that frequently results in kidney failure and also can invade a person’s central nervous system, heart and brain.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys represents victims of this outbreak and has filed a Costco Bravo Farms cheese lawsuit in Arizona. We are continuing to accept new cases at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or by contacting our firm online.
Bravo Farms Costco Cheese E. coli Lawsuit
A cheese E. coli lawsuit filed in Arizona resulted from the late 2010 Bravo Farms Costco E. coli outbreak in Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico and Nevada. Local counsel for Pritzker Olsen Attorneys filed the lawsuit on behalf of a family of four who contracted E. coli O157:H7 infections after consuming Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese at the Costco store located in Glendale, Arizona, on October 15, 2010.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona against Bravo Farms Cheese, LLC, a California limited liability corporation, and Costco Wholesale Corporation, a Washington corporation. Our law firm represents several additional victims of this outbreak and we have continued to receive inquiries about cheese E. coli litigation in AZ, CO, CA, NM and NV. We are continuing to accept cases at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) where an E. coli lawyer will answer your questions free of charge about financial recoveries and how the system works. You may also contact us online.
Thirty-eight persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from five states since mid-October. The number of ill persons identified in each state with this strain is as follows: AZ (19), CA (3), CO (11), NM (3) and NV (2). There have been 15 reported hospitalizations, 1 case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and no deaths.
According to the CDC, this is a rare strain of E. coli O157:H7 that has never been seen before in the PulseNet database. PulseNet is the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories that performs molecular surveillance of foodborne infections.
Laboratory testing conducted by the New Mexico Department of Health on an unopened (intact) package of Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese purchased from a Costco retail location has identified E. coli O157:H7 matching the outbreak strain. This was consistent with previous laboratory testing conducted on two opened packages of the Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese purchased at Costco, which also identified E. coli O157:H7 matching the outbreak strain. These opened packages were from two different case patients’ homes.
Bravo Farms Costco Cheese E. coli Outbreak
Looking back at 2010, the Bravo Farms Costco Cheese E. coli outbreak was one of only two multi-state outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 spotlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Law firm PritzkerOlsen represents multiple victims of the outbreak and has filed a cheese E. coli lawsuit against Costco and Bravo Farms. The firm is continuing to accept new cases at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or by completing an electronic contact form. As previously reported, the outbreak stemmed from store sampling and sales at Costco of Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda cheese. Made from raw milk, the product was found by federal and state investigators to be the likely cause of at least 38 confirmed E. coli infections in Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico and Arizona. CDC has said the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 has never seen before by the agency’s PulseNet database of foodborne illness cases.
At last count, the number of ill persons identified in each state with this strain is as follows: AZ (19), CA (3), CO (11), NM (3) and NV (2). Dates of illness onset range from October 16, 2010 through October 27, 2010. Patients range in age from 1 to 85 years and the median age is 16 years. There have been 15 reported hospitalizations, 1 case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and no deaths.
Laboratory testing conducted by the New Mexico Department of Health on an unopened (intact) package of Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese purchased from a Costco retail location was the smoking gun. The genetic fingerprint test found E. coli O157:H7 matching the outbreak strain. The FDA said late last year that it would continue to work with its state partners to investigate Bravo Farms and to identify all potential sources of contamination.
Cracking the Sally Jackson Cheese E. coli Outbreak
Footwork, phone work and guess work helped solve the Sally Jackson cheese E. coli outbreak in a period of less than two weeks. The probe led by Oregon Public Health ultimately found at least two samples of Sally Jackson raw milk cheese containing the outbreak strain of E. coli 0157:H7.
The artisan cheese from Sally Jackson Cheeses of Oroville, Washington, was served at restaurants, sold at an upscale cheese shop and served at a wedding. Newspaper reporter Lynne Terry recapped the public health outbreak investigation for OregonLive.com, noting that the first big break was the discovery that two unrelated case patients had eaten at the same Oregon restaurant one day apart from each other. Both ordered the artisan cheese plate as a starter.
E. coli 0157:H7 infections in eight people, including a Vermont man who was visiting Seattle, are now associated with contaminated Sally Jackson cheese. Owner Sally Jackson has said she will shut down and all cheese from her farmstead creamery has been recalled.
Documents obtained by law firm Pritzker Olsen from the FDA and Washington State Department of Agriculture show that food safety inspectors found multiple violations in the operations at Sally Jackson. Before the outbreak, state inspectors found she was operating without a milk producer’s license and they required Sally Jackson to apply for one. Her cheeses were made from raw, unpasteurized milk from cows, goats and sheep.
Pritzker Olsen is currently litigating an artisan cheese E. coli lawsuit in connection with a separate outbreak, also in the West. Our lawyers have years of experience in foodborne illness litigation and have collected millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning. Besides representing victims, our firm is actively involved in effortst to prevent the spread of dangerous and sometimes deadly pathogens in our food supply. To receive a free case consultation for an E. coli illness linked to the Sally Jackson outbreak or any other E. coli outbreak, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.
Gourmet Cheese E. coli Concerns in WA, OR, MN
Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Vermont public health officials are helping to investigate an E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak that may be associated with gourmet cheese from Sally Jackson Cheeses in northeast Washington. So far there have been eight people infected with the same identical strain of E. coli 0157:H7 and one of the victims in Minnesota was hospitalized for four days.
Late last week the Food and Drug Administration published a notice that consumers should not eat and restaurants should not serve any and all Sally Jackson gourmet cheese because the gourmet raw milk cow, goat and sheep cheeses have been identified as one possible source of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak in Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Vermont. Unpasteurized raw milk can carry dangerous human pathogens and is considered a threat to human health by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FDA, many state health departments and medical trade groups.
Sally Jackson cheeses are distributed to retailers and restaurants nationwide and are sold to distributors in 17 states. The FDA has warned that many resellers of the cheese sell it over the internet. Victims of this outbreak may have claims against Sally Jackson Cheese of Oroville, Washington. The facts of the case determine who is legally responsible to pay victims compensation and where a lawsuit should be filed. An experienced E. coli attorney should be contacted regarding these issues.
In regard to the gourmet cheese E. coli outbreak currently under investigation, Sally Jackson Cheeses was found very recently by Washington state health investigators to be out of compliance with several food safety regulations and was operating without a required milk producer’s permit. The FDA has said that the products were “processed under conditions that create a significant risk of contamination.”
The three types of recalled gourmet cheese from Sally Jackson are all soft raw milk cheeses in various sized pieces. The products do not have labels or codes. The cow and sheep milk cheeses are wrapped in chestnut leaves, the goat cheese is wrapped in grape leaves and all are secured with twine. The cheeses may have an outer wrapping of waxed paper, the FDA has said.
