Freshway Foods Lettuce E coli Outbreak and Recall
A Freshway Foods lettuce recall has been issued in the wake of an E. coli 0145 outbreak that has sickened approximately 50 people at universities and colleges in Michigan, New York and Ohio, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Illnesses have been reported at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and Daemen College in Amherst, New York.
The potentially contaminated lettuce was sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands to wholesale, service outlets, 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 lettuce was distributed to those states at salad bars and delis in the following stores: Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores.
E coli Infections from Lettuce
The food safety attorneys at Pritzker Olsen law firm have, unfortunately, dealt with foodborne illness outbreaks associated with Ecoli in lettuce before. Our lawyers have, in fact, successfully recovered monetary damages for victims of lettuce E.coli food poisoning. People with E. coli infections from food products like the contaminated Freshway Foods lettuce could be able to file a lawsuit against producers and distributors of contaminated food.
The Spinach E. coli outbreak of 2006 drew national media attention to the issue of E coli contaminated produce. Unfortunately, that outbreak was not an isolated incident. The recent Freshway Foods lettuce outbreak associated with a different strain of the pathogen--E. coli 0145--shows the need for food producers to focus on the safety of products and for government agencies to tighten produce regulations and inspections, said food poisoning attorney Fred Pritzker. "The USDA currently only regulates one strain of E. coli, and that is E. coli O157. However, if other strains of E. coli can severely sicken and even kill people, those strains need to be regulated as well."
