Utah E. coli Outbreak: Wendy's and Salinas Valley Lettuce
Earlier this month Utah health investigators found a link between an E. coli O121:H19 outbreak and iceberg lettuce prepared at the Wendy's Restaurant at 2500 N. E. in North Ogden, Utah. Health officials have announced the lettuce used by Wendy's during the outbreak was grown in the Salinas Valley in California.
The Utah E. coli O121:H19 outbreak sickened at least 73 people, 3 of whom developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and experienced kidney failure.
A Weber-Morgan Health Department news release explains the exposure to the suspected lettuce:
We believe that people may have been exposed to the contaminated lettuce between the period of June 27th and June 30th, 2006. One of the confirmed HUS cases (Case A) ate cheeseburgers with lettuce at the Wendy's Restaurant for three consecutive days, June 27th through the 29th. On June 30th, Wendy's catered a salad luncheon at the CORE Academy Conference held at Orion Junior High School in Harrisville where more than 300 attendees were potentially exposed. A second confirmed HUS case (Case B) attended this conference, only on Friday, June 29th 2006, and ate the Wendy's salad. A second attendee (Case C) of the conference was also confirmed to have an E.coli infection. Case A and Case C were both confirmed with identical genetic strains of E.coli O121:H19. The only common exposure shared by these three cases was the [North Ogden Wendy's] iceberg lettuce. The third HUS case (Case D) was determined to be a secondary transmission from a self reported infected person who attended the conference.Although Utah health officials believe Salinas Valley is the probable source of the contaminated lettuce, just where between field and fork the lettuce used by Wendy's was contaminated is unknown. Investigations into prior E. coli outbreaks linked to Salinas Valley lettuce have generally been inconclusive. Even so, when a food item served at a restaurant makes people sick, the restaurant is responsible. It does not matter if investigators determine exactly how the food item became contaminated.
Pritzker | Ruohonen & Associates, P.A. is one of the few law firms in the United States that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. The firm has collected millions of dollars on behalf of victims of E. coli poisoning and other foodborne illnesses. To contact a lawyer at Pritzker | Ruohonen call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or e-mail fhp@pritzkerlaw.com.
Source: Dania Akkad, E. coli outbreak linked to Salinas lettuce, Monterey County Herald (California), August 30, 2006.