St Louis E Coli Outbreak Includes Salad Bar Suppliers to Schnucks and Other Retailers
The search for the source of the St. Louis E. coli outbreak is expanding beyond Missouri’s borders to include grocery store suppliers and distributors from outside the state. Missouri health officials will now enlist the help of the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the investigation broadens to include suppliers and distributors to Schnucks and other retailers.
Some, but not all, of the 26 confirmed cases in the outbreak ate from salad bars at Schnucks stores and inspections of several Schnucks stores and warehouses have all turned up clean, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) said in an update about the investigation released yesterday.
Laboratory testing to identify the “genetic fingerprint” of the E. coli involved is underway. So far, 26 samples have been completed and they all match, suggesting that all 26 people are part of the outbreak and that only one specific organism is involved, DHSS said in the statement.
Food samples are also being tested to determine whether E. coli is present. So far, 17 samples have been submitted, and all have come back negative for E. coli. These samples included two strawberries retrieved from sick individuals’ homes, DHSS statement said. The remaining samples consist of lettuce, strawberries, and Caesar dressing taken from several Schnuck’s stores in the region.
“Those products that were in question were not created by Schnucks,” Schnucks spokeswoman Lori Willis told the Moris Daily Herald. “There’s got to be a supplier involved in some way.”
Public health officials continue to urge anyone in the St. Louis area experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms, including severe stomach cramps, diarrhea or nausea, to seek medical attention.
Those with legal questions about an illness associated with this outbreak should contact PritzkerOlsen P.A., one of the nation’s leading food safety law firms for a free consultation regarding a . A toll free number is also available 1(888) 377-8900.
St. Louis County Missouri E. coli Update
St. Louis County, Missouri, is the center of a hard-hitting E. coli outbreak that also has affected consumers in three surrounding counties, including St. Clair County, Illinois. Many people have been hospitalized and the current count of 23 cases will almost certainly grow.
The U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention and Missouri state health officials are assisting in the investigation to determine what food is spreading a pathogen that Dr. Dolores J. Gunn of the St. Louis County Department of Health described as toxic and virulent. Sixteen of the cases were confirmed this week in less than 72 hours.
Grocery store salad bars are being looked at as one focal point of the investigation and Schnucks has voluntarily removed some produce items as a precaution. No recalls have been announced. Health officials are urging parents to go straight to the emergency room with any children who get sick with bloody diarrhea, a signature symptom of toxic E. coli poisoning. Children under 5 are most susceptible to a complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Kidney failure, stroke, severe anemia, heart problems and paralysis are among the hazards of HUS.
An E. coli lawyer from Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, a national food poisoning law firm, is in contact with victims of the St. Louis E. coli outbreak for filing a lawsuit. Free case consultations are provided at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and our attorney will call you. Pritzker Olsen has collected millions of dollars for E. coli victims in claims settlements and courtroom litigation that can be extremely complicated. The firm also is actively involved in multiple efforts to prevent outbreaks of food poisoning. Our clients have testified before Congress on the need to clean up the U.S. food supply and hold wrongdoers accountable for deaths and other harms.
E. coli Outbreak Research Examines Spinach
E. coli outbreak researchers for USDA created fluorescent E. coli cells to determine whether they can be internalized into roots of baby spinach plants — a recent project that found no evidence that E. coli O157:H7 was taken up in leaves or shoots of baby spinach plants grown in soil as many believed was the case.
The E. coli outbreak research was headed by Manan Sharma of the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service. His team modified several strains of E. coli to contain a gene for fluorescence, which allowed them to track the pathogen’s journey in spinach from field to harvest. Some of the modified bacteria they developed were highly pathogenic strains of E. coli O157:H7, the type of toxic E. coli that causes most cases of life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (E. coli HUS) and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). These conditions cause kidney failure and can trigger a cascade of other severe bodily injuries by fragmenting a person’s red blood cells.
One of the findings confirmed that the pathogenic E. coli could survive in the soil for up to 28 days at different levels. The researchers observed that the fluorescent E. coli cells had been able to migrate into the roots of spinach plants, but not beyond unless the plants were grown in hydroponic conditions. Even then, the number of E. coli cells that made it to the stems and leaves were not considered numerous to cause an outbreak of foodborne illness.
According to USDA’s own interpretation of the research, Sharma believes these findings confirm that although E. coli O157:H7 can survive in soils, it is highly unlikely that foodborne illness would result from the bacterium becoming internalized through roots in leafy produce.
From the perspective of an E. coli lawyer, the finding is more evidence that spinach E. coli, lettuce E. coli and E. coli in other leafy greens is highly preventable and should not cause outbreaks if fresh produce growers and handlers are vigilant and take responsibility for keeping poisons out of the food they sell. Pritzker Olsen attorneys represents victims of E. coli outbreaks and other outbreaks of foodborne illness 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). In addition, E. coli lawyerrs at the firm are actively involved in efforts to prevent E. coli outbreaks and other food poisonings to prevent the horrible illnesses and tragic deaths we have been witnessing for many years.
Lettuce E. coli and outbreaks with leafy greens targeted in proposed USDA program with industry
The 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak sickened more than 200 Americans and caused 31 cases of life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Tragically, three HUS deaths resulted from the outbreak, which was caused by E. coli O157:H7.
There have been other U.S. E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens, along with outbreaks in the industry that have been tied to other pathogens. Now the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service is requesting comment on the creation of a voluntary National Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (NLGMA). A USDA press release said the agreement would assist all types of farmers and handlers to more effectively comply with quality and food safety requirements.
The agency is proposing there be eight regional zones (reflecting different climates) and a board with 26 representatives appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to manage the agreement.
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan said the government wants the agreement to be practical and filled with safe agricultural and food handling practices that everyone can follow. The Ag Secretary also would appoint a Technical Review Committee. The agreement is a proposal open to comments for the next 90 days. Officials will analyze the comments and decide how or whether to proceed with an agreement. The idea dates back to June 2009 when it was brought to USDA by 14 different organizations representing a cross-section of producer and handler representatives from the fresh produce industry.
The initiative fits into the Obama Administration’s attempts to take preventative steps against foodborne illness. E. coli HUS is especially dangerous because it almost always starts with kidney failure and can progress from there to cause other organ damage inside a victim’s body. Children under age 5 are most susceptible to developing HUS and HUS remains the leading cause of E. coli death.
If you or a family member has been sickened in a lettuce E. coli outbreak or any other outbreak linked to leafy greens, contact a food safety attorney at nationally recognized Pritzker Olsen attorneys, 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or contact us online. Our firm is one of the very few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness and we have collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning.
E. coli O145 Outbreak Tied to R.V. Toilet Dumping
The first produce-associated E. coli O145 outbreak identified in the United States occurred last year when 33 people in five states were sickened after eating Freshway Foods shredded romaine lettuce processed in Ohio. It also was the first foodborne illness outbreak associated with produce grown in the area around Yuma, Arizona.
For those reasons, the FDA chose the outbreak for a postmortem environmental assessment in hopes of tracing exactly where in the supply chain the romaine became contaminated. The answer? The likely cause was human waste emptied from RVs at an RV park adjacent to an irrigation canal. The E. coli-contaminated canal was used to water four farm fields where the romaine was grown and picked.
The recently published FDA findings coincide with final-phase E. coli lawsuit work conducted by national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A. Ohio-based Freshway was implicated early on in this outbreak and conducted a romaine recall. When the investigation of the plant failed to determine how the lettuce became contaminated, FDA’s researchers turned to the farm fields in Wellton, Arizona, where the produce was grown. Those sickened in the outbreak were from Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
E. coli O145 is similar to the more prevalent E. coli O157:H7 in that it is an enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). It is the Shiga toxins that can cause serious injury or death, usually in part with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of kidney failure in children worldwide. HUS. E. coli O145 is part of a group of E. coli serotypes called non-O157 STEC.
According to FDA documents obtained by law firm PritzkerOlsen, the R.V. park is located on a knoll directly above the lateral irrigation canal that supplies water to the suspect fields. The R.V. park is serviced by eight on-site septic leach systems. The FDA investigation found evidence of drainage from the R.V. park directly into the irrigation canal. No outbreak strains of E. coli O145 were found, but two drag swabs and one mud sample found non-O157 STEC Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2)-producing E. coli. Investigators noted that a water pump and hose at this location could be used by R.V. owers to empty and rinse their toilet tanks.
“We determined that the R.V. park is a reasonably likely potential source of the outbreak pathogen,” the report said.
This outbreak hit hard on several school campuses and PritzkerOlsen is representing a woman whose freshman studies were abruptly interrupted at Daemen College in Amherst, New York, when she became infected and seriously ill after eating contaminated lettuce. PritzkerOlsen is one of the very few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and its attorneys have collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning. A lawyer is always available to answer legal questions about an E. coli death or illness at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or communication can be started with our online contact form.
