Freshway Foods Lettuce and E. coli O145 Outbreak in Michigan, Ohio and New York
Our law firm recently obtained compensation for university students who were sickened by lettuce eaten at a campus cafeteria. In lettuce E. coli outbreak cases, we look at the food service company that ran the cafeteria, the supplier of the lettuce and the grower to obtain compensation for our clients.
Lettuce has been a major source of E. coli outbreaks in the past, and Romaine lettuce supplied by Freshway Foods, a Sidney, Ohio firm, has now been associated with the E. coli O145 outbreak that has sickened over 50 people in Michigan, Ohio and New York, including university students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ohio State University in Columbus and Daemen College in Amherst, New York.
Our law firm has been contacted by people sickened in this lettuce E coli outbreak, and we are actively investigating. If you would like to discuss an E. coli O145 lawsuit against Freshway Foods and others, please call 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or submit our online form.
Fallout Continues From Lettuce E. coli Outbreak
It was the summer of 2006 when the memorable Utah E. coli lettuce outbreak occurred in North Ogden, Utah. In June of that year, iceberg lettuce on hamburgers and in salads sickened at least 14 customers of the local Wendy’s restaurant.
The outbreak was confirmed by the Weber-Morgan Health Department because there was an identical strain of E. coli 0121:H19 found in victims who had all eaten at Wendy’s. Three of the first four confirmed Wendy’s lettuce outbreak cases were in people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of kidney failure among children in the U.S. and a disease that can also wreak havoc with other bodily systems.
The latest fallout from the lettuce E. coli outbreak has to do with corporate liability: The supplier of the suspected E. coli tainted lettuce, Pacific International Vegetable Marketing Inc., is suing TWIW Insurance Services because the insurer refused to defend the distributor against E. coli compensation claims.
The suit was reported today by the Salt Lake Tribune. According to the newspaper’s story, the insurance company’s excuse for not providing coverage was that there was never any direct evidence that the outbreak strain of E. coli came from the lettuce.
Pacific International said it was forced to settle with 14 victims of the outbreak., but it did not disclose the sum of those settlements. However, the lettuce distributor said it incurred damages of $1.5 million.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) developed the Lettuce Safety Initiative as a response to recurring outbreaks ofE. coliO157:H7 associated with fresh and fresh-cut lettuce. The E. coli lettuce initiative is intended to reduce public health risks by focusing on the product, agents and the areas of greatest concern.
Still, lettuce E. coli outbreaks have continued and a Colorado E. coli lettuce outbreak is currently rumored to be under way in Colorado and Utah.
If you or someone you love has been infected with E. coli or HUS in lettuce or some other food, see a physician immediately. To protect your legal rights, contact anE. coli lawyer at Pritzker Olsen attorneys by dialing 1-888-377-8900. Our law firm is well known throughout the nation for practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning.
To receive a free case consultation, complete one of our forms and submit it for a confidential and free review from one of our attorneys. If we agree to accept your case, we don’t get paid until you win.
