Freshway Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Update
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued its final update in the Freshway Foods lettuce E. coli outbreak that infected at least 33 people in New York, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
Unchanged in the report is the fact that three individuals from New York developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) from their E. coli O145 infections. This includes two teen-age students from Wappingers Falls, New York. Illnesses were reported in Wappingers Falls and nearby Hopewell Junction in Dutchess County, New York, not far from Poughkeepsie.
The third lettuce HUS victim is a freshman at Daemen College in Amherst, New York. She has retained law firm Pritzker Olsen to represent her in litigation against responsible parties, including Ohio-based Freshway Foods, the distributor of shredded romaine lettuce implicated as the cause of this outbreak.
CDC’s final update increases the number of confirmed cases from 23 to 26, including a new case in Pennsylvania. Seven other probable cases are included as outbreak cases. The CDC said the newly reported case in Pennsylvania does not reflect expansion of the outbreak but retrospective identification using computerized DNA fingerprinting.
The health agency continues to state that all the contaminated lettuce associated with the Freshway Foods E. coli outbreak came from a single farm, unnamed. Other reports have placed the farm in Yuma, Arizona, the largest producing region of winter lettuce in the United States.
The Food and Drug Administration is still working with state partners to determine where in the distribution chain the point of contamination likely occurred.
Here is the CDC list of where the outbreak was known to hit: Michigan (11 confirmed and 2 probable); New York (5 confirmed and 2 probable); Ohio (8 confirmed and 3 probable); Pennsylvania (1 confirmed), and Tennessee (1 confirmed).
E. coli O145 Lettuce Came From New York School
New York State produced multiple lines of evidence implicating shredded romaine lettuce from Ohio-based Freshway Foods as the source of infection in the nationally watched outbreak of E. coli O145.
The smoking gun proof that solved the mystery of what was causing E. coli infections in Michigan, Ohio and New York was a bag of unopened shredded romaine lettuce that came from a school associated with the outbreak. The bag itself arrived at New York’s Wadsworth Center laboratory on April 28 as part of a shipment of 150 pounds of lettuce to be studied.
Public health experts at the New York Department of Health and the Dutchess and Erie county health departments suspected lettuce based on their hard work in tracking down patients and finding out what they had eaten and where they had dined before becoming ill. To date, four confirmed and three probable cases of E. coli related to the outbreak have been identified in New York State.
One of those cases is a serious illness contracted by a female freshman student at Daemen College in Amherst. She is represented by food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen, which has been in contact with other victims of this outbreak. All together, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has indicated that 30 cases of diarrheal illness are considered to be part of the outbreak, including 23 that are laboratory-confirmed. One is in Tennessee and the rest are in Ohio and Michigan.
This week, New York officials recounted the steps of their investigation into the Freshway lettuce E. coli outbreak. They didn’t identify the school from which the bag of smoking gun lettuce came from, but it could have been Daemen or the public school district in Wappingers Falls, New York.
Both schools have students who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) as a result of their E. coli O145 infections; two reportedly at Wappingers Falls. The freshman student at Daemen was hospitalized multiple times for treatment of HUS and she suffered kidney injuries that could affect her the rest of her life.
Pritzker Olsen continues to monitor the public health investigation of this outbreak and conduct its own research. The lettuce recalled by Freshway was shipped to two dozen states east of the of the Mississippi River and the District of Columbia. That means many more people could have been infected by the lettuce borne E. coli without getting a diagnosis.
Lack of Attention for Non-o157 E. coli Types
A major problem with this strain of E. coli is that most places don’t test for it and the federal government has ignored it. Everyone is focused on the most common Shiga toxin-producing E. coli – E. coli O157:H7.
All types of Shiga toxin E. coli bacteria cause diarrhea that is often bloody and accompanied by abdominal cramps. Fever is absent or mild. Symptoms usually appear about three days after exposure but may occur from one to nine days. Most people recover without treatment in five to 10 days, but life-threatening HUS or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) develop in five to 15 percent of cases.
Not all diarrheal illness is caused by E. coli. However, a health care provider should be consulted immediately if diarrhea is present in children, has lasted more than a day or two in adults, or is bloody. HUS can begin as the diarrhea is improving and can occur in people of any age but is most common in children under 5 years.
If you have legal questions about this outbreak and are seeking a free case consultation with an E. coli lawyer, call Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our online contact form. Our firm is one of the few that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected millions for victims of food poisoning in all corners of the U.S.
New York Lettuce E. coli Victim From Daemen College
One of three New York lettuce E. coli outbreak victims who developed life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) has been retained by law firm Pritzker Olsen.
The freshman from Daemen College, a private liberal arts school in Amherst, New York, was hospitalized three times after contracting E. coli O145 last month. Her illness is associated with contaminated romaine lettuce distributed and later recalled by Ohio-based Freshway Foods.
An ABC News report said two other HUS illnesses associated with the lettuce outbreak also are from New York: a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old from the public school district in Wappingers Falls.
New York is one of four states involved in the outbreak that has sickened at least 23 people and hospitalized a dozen. Seven additional cases studied as part of the outbreak are currently listed as probable. The four states are New York, Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee, where there is one confirmed case.
The Daemen College student’s health battle has been a serious setback to her studies at the private liberal arts college in Amherst, New York. Her attorney, Fred Pritzker, said the outbreak and her illness could have been prevented if the U.S. didn’t ignore E. coli O145.
The most common strain of E. coli associated with human illness is E. coli O157. Even though other strains, like O145, can be just as dangerous, O157 is the only E. coli strain that is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Any E. coli strain capable of producing the toxin that causes injury or death in humans, including O145, should be declared an adulterant and regulated by federal and state agencies charged with protecting our nation’s food supply,” said Pritzker. “Our client’s HUS is no less devastating because it came from O145 rather than O157.”
Vaughn Foods of Moore, Oklahoma has also recalled lettuce that came from the same Yuma, Arizona farm that the FDA is investigating as a potential source of the Freshway Foods lettuce contamination. Most of the recalled lettuce was distributed for use by foodservice establishments and in institutional settings, such as large schools.
Pritzker Olsen is a Minneapolis-based food safety law firm that has been involved in virtually every major foodborne illness outbreak. Pritzker Olsen attorneys have recovered millions of dollars for victims seriously harmed or killed by foodborne illness. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or via our online contact form.
Lettuce E. coli Lawsuits Certain to Result From Freshway Foods Shredded Romaine Outbreak
Lettuce E. coli lawsuits are certain to result from an outbreak of E. coli O145 tied by public health investigation to Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is conducting its own research on the outbreak and has been in contact with potential victims.
The outbreak has taken a toll on students in schools and on college campuses in Ohio, Michigan and New York. These institutions are Ohio State University in Columbus, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Daemen College in Amherst, New York; and public schools in Wappingers Falls, New York.
Shredded Romaine lettuce from Freshway is the implicated source of infection in this outbreak according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Multiple lines of evidence” support the finding, including a positive test for E. coli in a previously unopened package of shredded romaine obtained from a “facility” associated with the outbreak.
The CDC said DNA testing to confirm the link to ill persons is pending at this time. Meanwhile, Freshway Foods has issued a lettuce recall as a result of the evidence obtained to date. The products were sold in 23 states and Washington, D.C., to foodservice accounts including cafeterias, delis, restaurants, grocery store salad bars and institutions.
The latest CDC update on the lettuce E. coli outbreak counts 19 confirmed victims and 10 probable since March 1. Three victims developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly disease that commonly shuts down a person’s kidneys but also can invade further to cause brain injury, paralysis, heart problems, coma, stroke and nervous system disorders.
In Wappingers Falls, School District Superintendent James Parla told the Poughkeepsie Journal that there were two confirmed cases of E. coli, three probable cases and one suspected case. The students go to Roy C. Ketcham High School, John Jay High School, Wappingers Junior High School and Van Wyck Middle School.
The investigation into the Freshway Foods E. coli outbreak is continuing and it includes a focus on a farm in Yuma, Arizona, where investigators believe the tainted romaine may have originated. The Associated Press quoted Laura Oxley, a spokeswoman for the Arizona agriculture and health departments, who said there were no additional shipments to stop because it is the end of the winter lettuce season in the state.
To contact an E. coli attorney at Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our online contact form. We will provide a free case consultation and answer legal questions you may have about this outbreak.
Our firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected millions for victims of food poisoning. We are involved in practically every major outbreak of food poisoning as an advocate for victims.
Freshway Foods Lettuce Recall
The E. coli O145 outbreak that has sickened people in Michigan, New York and Ohio has been linked to Freshway Foods romaine lettuce. The outbreak has prompted Freshway Foods, a Sidney, Ohio firm, to recall products containing romaine lettuce with a use by date of May 12 or earlier. The recall comes after FDA informed Freshway Foods the afternoon of Wednesday, May 5 that a previously unopened product sample in a New York state laboratory tested positive for the bacteria.
The recalled Freshway Foods romaine lettuce products were sold under the Freshway brand and Imperial Sysco brand to food service outlets (including university campus food service), restaurants and in-store retail salad bars and delis in the following states:
Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
The recalled romaine products were also sold for distribution to in-store salad bars and delis for Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores in the states listed above. Consumers who purchased romaine from an in-store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores in the states previously listed should throw the product away UNLESS SOMEONE ATE SOME OF THE LETTUCE AND MAY CONTRACT OR HAS CONTRACTED AN E COLI O145 INFECTION. If someone has been diagnosed with an E coli infection, you should contact our law firm regarding testing the leftovers for E. coli.
In some cases, a person will be diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic pupura (TTP), severe complications of an E. coli infection, before there can be a definitive diagnosis of E. coli. These people will be very sick and unable to contact our law firm. If your loved one has HUS and/or TTP, contact our law firm for Freshway Foods lawsuit information by calling 1-999-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or submit our online form for a free consultation. We are not paid unless you win.
