A romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak has sickened people in eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Washington and Wisconsin. About 40 percent of the illnesses reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have required hospitalization including two people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of kidney failure.
“This is the fourth E. coli O157:H7 outbreak likely associated with romaine lettuce since December of 2017,” said E. coli lawyer Eric Hageman, whose firm Pritzker Hageman is representing clients sickened in this outbreak including a 14-year-old with HUS. “We need to get to the bottom of what’s causing these products to continue becoming contaminated.”
The CDC’s case count includes illnesses reported from September 24 to November 8, 2019. But some state totals are more current (and higher) than the CDC total. For example, the CDC total shows two illnesses in Maryland. But on November 18, the Maryland Department of Health reported that seven people in that state who had eaten Ready Pac Bistro® Bowl Chicken Caesar Salad developed E. coli infections.
Tests on the romaine lettuce in an unopened package of salad purchased by one of the patients was positive for E. coli. Further testing is being conducted on the strain collected from the Ready Pac Bistro salad to identify its genetic “fingerprint.”
All seven Maryland patients purchased their Ready Pac Bistro salads from Sam’s Club stores. A recall has not been issued for these salads because their “Best By” date is Oct. 31, 2019 and it is believed they are no longer on store shelves.
The case-patients in other states did not report eating this brand of salad, so a wider investigation is underway. At this point, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes the source of the romaine may be from farms in Salinas, California.
The E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Hageman have represented clients in every major outbreak in the last two decades. If you are part of this outbreak, we want to represent you, too. For a free consultation, call us at 1-888-377-8900, text us at 612-261-0856 or, fill out the form below.