Food Poisoning Law Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : PritzkerLaw : Food Safety, Outbreaks & Recalls

Attorney Fred Pritzker

 Organic Pastures of Fresno County has been forced into a recall and quarantine of its raw milk products in response to a confirmed finding of the human pathogen Campylobacter in raw cream. At least 10 California residents who reported drinking the milk since January have come down with campylobacteriosis.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture made the announcement in a news release, noting the statewide recall and quarantine of raw milk, raw skim milk (non-fat),  raw cream and raw butter produced by Organic Pastures Dairy. The same agency detected E. coli in Organic Pastures raw milk late last year.

The latest California raw milk outbreak from Campylobacter has not resulted in deaths or hospitalizations, but one of the victims was only nine months old. The median age of victims is 11.5 years.They are residents of Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Santa Clara counties.

"From January through April 30, 2012, the California Department of Public Health reports that at least 10 people with Campylobacter infection were identified throughout California and reported consuming Organic Pastures raw milk prior to illness onset,'' the press release said.

Foodborne illness caused by Campylobacter bacteria causes diarrhea, stabbing stomach pains and fever. Most healthy adults recover without treatment, but risk of serious illness faces young children, older adults pregnant women and others who have a weakened immune system, including some cancer patients.

.Even if your illness was not life threatening, you could still receive substantial compensation from the purveyor. Contact food poisoning law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., for a free case review at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). If we agree to take your case, you won't owe us anything until your claim has been settled and paid. Our firm currently represents a family hit hard by Campylobacter in raw milk. An outbreak in Pennsylvania put the family's patriarch in the hospital, paralyzed and on a respirator for complications stemming from drinking contaminated milk that he and his wife bought from an organic foods store.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

National food poisoning lawyers at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., have filed a sushi Salmonella lawsuit on behalf of a resident of Malden, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, who is battling a severe infection of Salmonella Bareilly as part of well-documented national outbreak.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston is against Moon Marine USA, a foreign corporation organized under the laws of  California. The plaintiff seeks damages in excess of $75,000, including hospital billings at Massachusetts General and lost time at work while the infection persisted.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

Any Sushi Salmonella lawsuit against tuna importer Moon Marine USA Corporation of Cupertino, California, will be rooted in dedicated work performed by a multitude of public health agencies led by the FDA and CDC. 

Inside the FDA, much credit is being given to a special urgent-response unit known as the Incident Management Group (IMG). According to an online FDA consumer update published recently, IMG operates out of the high-tech Emergency Operations Center at FDA headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

When the Salmonella Bareilly outbreak hit the U.S. across multiple states, IMG assembled a team of more than 30 FDA experts who specialize in a variety of areas. Their job was to investigate the outbreak and track down its source. The same bacteria ultimately made 258 people sick in 24 states and the District of Columbia.

By early April, the focus of the investigation shifted to six clusters of cases around restaurants or grocery stores in five states. Interviews with outbreak victims suggested that the common food consumed and likely source of infection was sushi made with raw tuna—and specifically, spicy tuna.

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 A restaurant in Dilworth, North Carolina, is the center of a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 15 people possibly more. Toast Cafe was inspected by the Mecklenberg County Department of Health, where environmental health specialist examiner Lynn Lathan found some trouble spots.

She told WBTV in Charlotte that Toast Cafe in Dilworth was making up hollandaise sauce without using a pasteurized egg. Once the sauce was mixed, it was allowed to sit at room temperature. "We did not have proper refrigeration. We had pooling of eggs going on," Lathan told the station.

In all, the county received reports of 29 people who became ill with gastroenteritis after eating at the cafe in late March. Fifteen cases were said to be confirmed Salmonella infections. 

Salmonellosis is a major foodborne illness that results in 1.4 million infections, 15,000 hospitalizations, and 400 deaths each year in the United States. And approximately half of all Salmonella outbreaks occur in restaurant settings.

Salmonella symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, and headache. These acute symptoms may last for one or two days or may be prolonged depending on virulence factors. Salmonella is especially dangerous for infants, the elderly, and people with HIV or in treatment for cancer. Salmonellosis should not be taken lightly and people who suspect they have it should immediately see a doctor. In some cases there are chronic consequences. Arthritic symptoms may follow 3-4 weeks after onset of acute symptoms. One of the most severe and painful complications is reactive arthritis, or Reiter's Syndrome.

Where You Can Go For Help

If you or someone close to you sought medical attention for a Salmonella infection after eating at Toast Cafe in Dilworth, you are entitled to seek compensation for your harms. Free case consultations are available at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., one of the few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area  of foodborne illness litigation. We have collected millions for victims of outbreaks and can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information online and a lawyer will contact you.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

Asheville tempeh litigation will center on Salmonella parathypi B molecular fingerprints lifted from those people sickened in the outbreak and from the tempeh itself. The DNA prints are an identical match and the manufacturer, Smiling Hara Tempeh of Asheville, has recalled all of its products for good reason.

The sleuthing in this outbreak was done by public health officials in Buncombe County, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Upwards of 50 people -- including seven who were hospitalized -- have been made ill with Paratyphoid Fever.

With this North Carolina Salmonella outbreak under control, attention will now turn toward making amends to those who purchased product that was contaminated with a potentially deadly pathogen. Even if your illness was not life threatening, you could still receive substantial compensation. Holding food manufacturers, restaurants, ingredient makers and their insurance companies responsible for food poisoning is a vital strata of consumer protection in the U.S. One in six Americans every year suffers from some form of infection from adulterated food and the specter of litigation is a key part of our checks and balances system to keep U.S. food inventories wholesome.

Contact a Salmonella lawyer for information on how to pursue your claim. At Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, free case reviews are available by phone 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information online and a lawyer from our firm will call you. Pritzker Olsen has collected millions for victims of food poisoning outbreaks and is one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

 A dog food recall is intended to stop a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened people in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and six other states. Contact with dry dog food manufactured in South Carolina by Diamond Pet Foods has been identified by CDC as a primary cause of illness in some case patients.

Here are the states involved in the outbreak followed by the number of confirmed case patients from each state: Alabama (1), Connecticut (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (3), North Carolina (3), New Jersey (1), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (1), and Virginia (1).

Food poisoning law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is advising  people who think they might have become ill after contact with Diamond Pet Food or animals who have eaten it should immediately consult a physician. The type of Salmonella in this outbreak -- infantis -- is somewhat virulent based on the fact that 56 percent of patients with available information have been hospitalized.

Multiple varieties of Diamond puppy food produced by Diamond Pet Foods are involved in the recall. 

Symptoms of Human Infection from Salmonella Infantis

Most persons infected with Salmonella bacteria develop diarrhea, (sometimes bloody)  fever, and painful stomach cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. Older adults, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness from Salmonella infection, including Reiter's Syndrome or reactive arthritis.

Salmonella Attorney and Lawsuit

Attorneys from Pritzker Olsen have opened an investigation into the Diamond Pet Food Salmonella outbreak and recall for purposes of a dog food lawsuit on behalf of the pet owners who became ill from handling contaminated product. Even if your case was not life-threatening, you are entitled to make a claim against the manufacturer and its insurance company to compensate you for any associated medical expense, pain and suffering, lost time at work, travel and other related expenses -- including long-term harms that Salmonella is known to cause in some case patients.

Call an attorney at the firm 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or submit your contact information online and a lawyer from the firm will call you to discuss the details of your case. Our firm is one of the very few in the country practicing extensively in the areas of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected millions for Salmonella outbreak victims.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

At least 258 people in 24 states and the District of Columbia have been sickened since early this year with Salmonella from contaminated raw tuna used in sushi, including spicy tuna rolls. One of the breakthroughs in the investigation -- which has been scientifically linked to raw yellowfin tuna scrape from Moon Marine USA Corporation -- is that it involves to separate types of Salmonella, both rarely found in the United States.

If you or a loved one has been sickened by either strain in this outbreak, you have standing to make a claim for compensation from Moon Marine and its insurance company even if your illness was not life-threatening. Pritzker Olsen Attorneys continues to accept cases for representation in a sushi Salmonella lawsuit.

The evidence collected from a joint investigation by state, local and federal public health agencies has produced a solid chain of evidence linking Moon Marine of Cupertino, California, to this outbreak based on frozen raw tuna it acquired from India. Salmonella is not normally associated with fish, so investigators believe the product was cross-contaminated somewhere in the supply line leading to the United States.

The two strains confirmed to be in the tuna and in outbreak victims are Salmonella Bareilly and Salmonella Nchanga. By far the dominant Salmonella type in this outbreak is Bareilly, which also was found through lab analysis in the state of Wisconsin to be in a spicy tuna roll and one sample of recalled tuna.

 If you have been notified by the health department that your illness belongs to this outbreak, contact a Salmonella lawyer at Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and one of our attorneys will call you. Years of experience have taught us that food poisoning is a preventable disease. When food is contaminated, it's usually because someone who is profiting from it didn't take proper care to keep the product wholesome. While one in six Americans every year fall ill to some form of foodborne illness, national outbreaks such as this one involving a known transmission vehicle are unusual.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

A North Carolina recall of soy-based tempeh made by an Asheville company called Smiling Hara Tempeh is giving a new wrinkle to the investigation of Salmonella Paratyphi B in the area, which includes all of Buncombe County.

North Carolina officials found Salmonella in Smiling Hara's soybean tempeh during a routine inspection and is currently testing it against the strain that is causing the outbreak.  Now the company is recalling soybean tempeh manufactured this year between January 11 and April 11. The containers are marked with a best-by date of 7/11/12 through 10/25/12. Tempeh is used as a meat substitute in vegetarian cuisine. Smiling Hara's products are raw, meaning they are meant to be cooked. It takes temperatures of 160 o 165 degrees to kill Salmonella bacteria.

“Anyone with this product in their possession should not eat it,” said North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

In the Buncombe County outbreak, people infected by Salmonella paratyphi B are falling ill with fever, diarrhea, malaise, severe headache and other symptoms. The disease is called Paratyphoid Fever, so-named for its more aggressive cousin, Typhoid Fever. Some patients may be hospitalized, but even those with milder infections can suffer long-term health consequences that should be addressed by a lawyer in the claims process.

If you or a loved one needs a free case review from a lawyer, call a Salmonella attorney at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., one of the very few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. We have collected millions for victims of food poisoning outbreaks and our attorneys are actively engaged in a variety of causes to improve the safety of the U.S. food supply. Send us your contact information online or call Toll-Free at 1-888-377-8900.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

 In Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina officials are inspecting food sources and interviewing people sickened in an outbreak of Salmonella Paratyphi B -- a type of Salmonella that has special risks and comes with a fever. The investigation currently centers around 27 people who live in Buncombe County or traveled there since late February.

Food poisoning investigators from the NC Division of Public Health, the NC Department of Agriculture and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are all collaborating to find out what item is making people sick in an attempt to thwart the outbreak.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

The sushi tuna recall in the Salmonella Bareilly outbreak has been reaffirmed by Wisconsin state laboratory testing that positively matched the outbreak strain of Salmonella in people to samples of the raw yellowfin tuna scrape recalled by importer Moon Marine USA Corporation two weeks ago.

One of the molecular matches was found in a sample of spicy tuna roll made from the recalled tuna. Spicy tuna rolls were an item that public health investigators identified early on as closely correlated to the outbreak. While the initial link between the Salmonella outbreak and frozen, raw tuna distributed by Moon Marinie was established through interviews of patients, restaurant operators and grocery store owners -- the DNA match produced by Wisconsin provides rock-solid evidence of what caused this outbreak.

In Wisconsin, 15 people have been sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella, including three who have been hospitalized. Most of the cases have been in the greater Milwaukee metropolitan area, including Waukesha. The Wisconsin sushi Salmonella outbreak also included at least one cluster of illnesses around a  sushi restaurant.

Outside Wisconsin, another 145 confirmed cases have been established in 19 other states, with about 16 percent of case patients hospitalized.

Sushi Tuna Recall Information

On April 13, 2012, Moon Marine (also known as MMI) of Cupertino, California, voluntarily recalled all frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, labeled as Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA. The product -- almost 60,000 pounds of it --  was not available for sale to individual consumers, but may have been used to make sushi, sashimi, ceviche and similar dishes available in restaurants and grocery stores. The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is continuing to trace the recalled tuna forward from the recalling company through the subsequent distribution. Tracing the recalled tuna backward, the trail has led to at least one tuna processor in India.

Freezing tuna used in sushi usually kills bacteria inherent to the fish, but not Salmonella, which has other animal origins. Officials want to know how the ground tuna scrape became contaminated.

Help for Victims

A sushi tuna lawsuit may be required for victims of this outbreak to recover money for medical expenses, pain, suffering, loss of work and other harms -- including long-term health consequences that studies have shown will crop up in people who endure Salmonellosis. If you or a loved one is a confirmed case patient call food poisoning attorneys at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information online and a lawyer will call you.

Consultations with an attorney at our firm are free. And if the firm takes your case, you will owe nothing until your case is won. Pritzker Olsen is one of the very few law firms practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we already are representing victims of the Salmonella Bareilly sushi tuna outbreak. Over the years we have collected tens of millions for families who have suffered from food poisoning.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

Oregon's Foundation Farm HUS outbreak from raw milk sold to families in a cow share program has sickened at least 19 people, including four children who have been hospitalized with HUS E. coli kidney failure. There are reports that one 13-year-old girl is in critical condition inside a Portland hospital.

The same strain of E. coli O157:H7 found in patients has been found in raw milk from Foundation Farm and the Oregon Public Health Division has clearly linked the HUS outbreak and associated E. coli O157:H7 infections to raw milk from the small farm in Clackamas County, near Wilsonville.

If your family is in this cow share program and someone has fallen ill with diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, please contact your health care provider immediately and seek treatment and testing. This is especially important for children and older adults, or others who have weakened or underdeveloped immune systems.

HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, is a well-documented complication of toxic E. coli infection that can happen in healthy persons of any age, but is most likely to strike in children, especially those under the age of 5. Tragically, about five percent of young children who develop HUS die from it.

Food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is accepting cases from this outbreak, one of the worst raw milk outbreaks of 2012. Our firm is involved as a representative for families in nearly every major outbreak of E. coli in the U.S. and we are actively involved in numerous causes to prevent the spread of E. coli and other pathogens in our food. Fred Pritzker, our founder and president, was part of a select Harvard University panel that debated raw milk benefits and dangers this year on the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass.

A lawyer from Pritzker Olsen will provide a free consultation for you, including information on how to recover money to pay hospital and medical bills, lost income from missed time at work, daycare expense, travel costs and other harms --- for both now and in the future. You may contact us online or call directly at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Our firm has collected tens of millions for families challenged by toxic E. coli food poisoning.

Oregon Raw Milk Lawsuit and Investigation

As of April 20, 2012, the Foundation Farm raw milk-associated Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak has sickened 19 persons. Of these 11 have culture-confirmed E. coli O157 infections; 15 of the 19 cases are in children below age 19.  Four children have been hospitalized with kidney failure and other HUS complications.

The outbreak was first detected by the Multnomah County Health Department on April 10 when a child of 18 months was admitted to a Portland area hospital with HUS. The family told a public health invesitgator that the child had drunk raw milk from the Foundation Farm cow-share program. Dedicated public health professionals reached out to as many familes in the cow-share program as they could, reaching 30 households.

Outbreak investigators went to the farm April 11 to collect samples from manure, environmental surfaces, rectal swabs from the farm's four cows and the milk itself. Test results carry the proof of a direct link between Foundation Farm raw milk and the outbreak of hospitalizations and illnesses among members of cow share families.

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Nearly 100 people have reported cases of Crypto in an outbreak associated with the Edgewater Resort and Water Park in Duluth, Minnesota. Pools at the facility were closed March 26, but the Minnesota Department of Health is still expecting to see more cases confirmed in lab testing.

State Epidemiologist Trisha Robinson told Minnesota Public Radio that a public health investigation into the outbreak is still in progress. She said that in some cases, two weeks can pass after a person has ingested contaminated water before they experience symptoms of illness. 

Investigators believe the Duluth Crypto outbreak and a smaller, unrelated outbreak in Brainerd in the past few months, stemmed from the introduction of the parasite by swimmers who were ill with cryptosporidiosis -- possibly without knowing they were carriers. The bug is expelled from an infected person through feces, which can contaminate swimming and drinking waters.

Cryptosporidiosis (“Crypto”) is a gastrointestinal illness caused by a microscopic parasite known as Cryptosporidium parvum. Drinking untreated water and accidentally ingesting water while swimming are common sources. Symptoms of Crypto include diarrhea, loose or watery stool, stomach cramps, upset stomach, and a slight fever. Some people have no symptoms.

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

Two children in Missouri and three in Oregon are in the hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal complication of an E. coli O157 infection that can cause kidney failure, stroke, heart failure, pancreatitis, severe hypertension, blindness and other serious health problems. These children and at least 14 other people are part of E.coli  outbreaks In Missouri and Oregon that have been linked to the consumption of raw milk. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has issued an alert regarding this outbreak and ” said Oregon Public Health State Epidemiologist Katrina Hedberg, M.D. has warned people not to drink raw milk.

Prompted by these and other outbreaks caused by raw milk, Fred Pritzker, a national food poisoning attorney, is calling for an outright ban on the consumption of raw milk by children.

“Raw milk is dangerous for anyone, but especially so for children,” said Pritzker. “Their immune systems are not strong enough to fight off the pathogens often found in raw milk. It’s bad enough when adults make ill-informed decisions about consuming dangerous product; there is simply no excuse for giving it to a child.”

Regulating a child’s consumption of unhealthy products is an accepted function of good government. There is no scientific evidence supporting the benefit of raw milk consumption, especially for children. This sad and unfortunate incident illustrates the necessity of protecting our most vulnerable citizens.

Attorney Fred Pritzker is president and founder of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a firm that is actively involved in multiple efforts to ensure a safe U.S. food supply. In the past two months alone, he debated food safety at Harvard Law School and was the keynote speaker at the North American Food Safety Summit in Toronto. His firm is currently litigating some of the largest and most complex food safety cases in the country. Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or through his E. coli blog, http://www.ecolilawyer.com. 

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Attorney Fred Pritzker

The latest raw milk food poisoning in Missouri has infected nine people with E. coli O157:H7, including at least two children who were hospitalized with E. coli HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome. The latest total of nine confirmed illnesses comes from Gena Terlizzi of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

E. coli lawyer Fred Pritzker, a featured panelist at Harvard University Law School's 2012 raw milk debate, said his firm is investigating the Missouri milk outbreak on behalf of victims. If you or a loved one has been harmed by contaminated raw milk, contact the Pritzker law firm online or call Fred at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Mr. Pritzker is actively involved in numerous efforts to protect our food supply from dangerous pathogens, including E. coli O157:H7 in unpasteurized milk. His firm has collected millions for families harmed by food poisoning, holding purveyors and their insurance companies accountable for the damages caused by unsafe products.

E. coli 0157:H7 can be deadly and is most likely to lead to critical injuries when children under the age of 5 are infected. Toxins in the bacteria attack a person's red blood cells, causing kidney failure, severe anemia and sometimes stroke, heart attack, seizures or damage to the central nervous system, including paralysis.

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