Freshway Foods E. coli Lettuce Outbreak Confirmed With Multiple Lines of Evidence
Multiple lines of evidence have been used to confirm Freshway Foods shredded Romaine lettuce as the cause of an E. coli O145 outbreak that has sickened at least 19 people in Ohio, Michigan and New York.
The Food and Drug Administration press release on the lettuce E. coli outbreak said 12 of the victims were hospitalized and three contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening disease that commonly results in kidney failure and can cause heart problems, stroke, brain injury and paralysis.
A key breakthrough in the investigation occurred yesterday when epidemiologists at the New York state laboratory in Albany confirmed the presence of E. coli O145 in a previously unopened bag of Freshway Foods shredded Romaine lettuce.
The FDA says all of the contaminated lettuce recalled by Sidney, Ohio,-based Freshway Foods in connection with the lettuce outbreak came from the same production facility. The agency is still investigating the actual source of contamination at the facility and it is working with Freshway Foods to track distribution of contaminated lettuce.
In Michigan, Washtenaw County Public Health announced that it has 10 confirmed cases as part of the outbreak. Three other illnesses in Michigan remain under investigation. The three-state Freshway lettuce outbreak involved students at Ohio State University in Columbus, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Daemen College in Amherst, New York. All of the illnesses in Michigan occurred between April 9-16.
In a note to consumers, the FDA says Freshway Foods lettuce with use-by dates after May 12 are not involved in the recall; nor are any other brands of Romaine lettuce.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is conducting its own investigation of the outbreak and is accepting cases to represent victims in Freshway Foods litigation. To contact an E. coli lawyer at the firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.
As one of the country's leading practitioners of foodborne illness litigation, we have represented victims in nearly every major outbreak of food poisoning. We understand the suffering that families endure when loved ones are seriously injured or killed from bacterial infections caused by contaminated food.
For instance, just this week we heard from client Randy Napier of Ohio. Nellie Napier, his mother, was one of nine people to die in the Peanut Corp. of America Salmonella outbreak early last year. Pritzker Olsen is representing three of those families.
To get a sense of the despair and harm caused by severe foodborne illness, read Randy's moving tribute posted recently on the Daily Kos blog.
