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Shredded Lettuce Salmonella Outbreak Suspected

By PritzkerLaw

 A Salmonella outbreak that may have been caused by shredded lettuce sickened at least 124 people nationwide, but the outbreak has subsided and investigators may never pinpoint the cause.

That is the report out of Oregon today in a story produced by reporter Lynne Terry of The Oregonian.

There was a clustering of these Salmonella Typhimurium illnesses in the West, including two people who were hospitalized in Oregon, one with severe damage. William Keene is senior epidemiologist at Public Health Division in Oregon. He told the newspaper that shredded lettuce is a leading suspect and many of the victims who were interviewed had eaten at fast food restaurants.

But Keene said the outbreak is not tied with any recall and authorities are not warning people away from lettuce or fast food restaurants.  If lettuce was the culprit, it's all eaten by now, the story said.

According to The Oregonian, the first cases began to appear in mid-July. By the end of August the outbreak had reached its peak and tapered off.

In recent times, major outbreaks of Salmonella or E. coli O157:H7 have been tied to leafy green vegetables such as lettuce or spinach almost every year. In the past, investigators have linked outbreaks to specific producers. Dole, for instance, caused a bagged lettuce E. coli outbreak in 2005 and a baby spinach E. coli outbreak in 2006.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen attorneys is currently representing Salmonella Typhimurium victims, including the families of three women who died of the disease late last year and early this year after eating contaminated peanut butter.

Our law firm has collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning and is dedicated to preventing foodborne illness. Between Salmonella and E. coli, more than 100,000 people a year become infected in the United States, thousands of whom are hospitalized.

If you or a loved one was diagnosed with the outbreak strain of Salmonella in this latest outbreak, contact a Salmonella attorney at Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). To receive a free case consultation online, go to our contact form and submit your information via the Internet.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on September 14, 2009 (boomark / email).