Companies sued over salmonella outbreak caused by cucumbers

A Florida woman is suing cucumber distributors and growers linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 449 people in 31 states and Washington, D.C., alleging the cucumbers she purchased gave her a fever, urinary tract infection and more.

Attorneys at Marler Clark and Chaikin LLP filed complain Representative Melissa Milligan sued Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. (a cucumber distributor) and Bedner Growers Inc. (a cucumber grower) on Wednesday. Milligan sued based on allegations of strict liability, breach of warranty and negligence, according to the lawsuit filed in the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County, Florida.

The complaint alleges that Milligan purchased cucumbers at the Publix supermarket in the Murabella Mall in St. Augustine, Florida, on two occasions: on May 19 and June 4. She ate the cucumbers until early June, when around June 10 she began experiencing symptoms of nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, fever, muscle aches, fatigue, headaches and a urinary tract infection, symptoms consistent with a history of alcohol abuse. Salmonella infection.

A few days later, she went to an urgent care clinic, where she was prescribed medication for diarrhea. Her symptoms grew worse, so she visited her primary care physician. Based on a stool sample she provided, doctors diagnosed her with Salmonella africana, said Bill Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark and one of Milligan’s attorneys. Her urine test also showed blood in her urine, which could be a symptom of a serious infection, the complaint said. Milligan is still recovering and now has anxiety about food, the complaint said.

Mahler said Milligan will likely make a full recovery, but she also incurred medical expenses while she sought treatment. Mahler said a jury will decide how much damages Milligan should receive.

“She was lucky not to be hospitalized, but she was very sick for a long time, and being sick with salmonella is not a pleasant experience,” Mahler told TIME.

A spokesperson for Fresh Start Produce Sales said in an emailed statement that the company is “aware of the lawsuit” and “takes it seriously” but declined to comment further because it is a legal matter. Bedner Growers did not respond to a request for comment.

The cucumber Milligan ate was one of them. Looking back Marler said Fresh Start Produce Sales stopped selling the products in late May due to concerns that they were contaminated with salmonella.

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U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Announce On July 2, officials from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that they were investigating a “multistate outbreak of Salmonella Africa and Salmonella Brandrup.” As of July 1, the outbreak had sickened 449 people in 31 states and the District of Columbia, but the CDC explain The actual number of sick people “is likely much higher” because many people who contract salmonella do not seek medical attention and therefore are not tested for the bacteria. Of the 188 patients interviewed by officials, nearly 70% said they had eaten cucumbers.

Although these were initially considered two separate outbreaks, the CDC and FDA combined them because they had many similarities, such as the time and location of the illnesses, the demographics of the people who became ill, and the foods they claimed to have eaten before becoming ill. Investigators believe cucumbers produced by Bedner Growers may be the source of the illnesses, but the FDA stressed that the company is not responsible for all illnesses in this outbreak.

The FDA said officials inspected Bender Growers, which supplies produce to Fresh Produce Sales, and found Braenderup Salmonella in samples of untreated canal water used by the company, and that strain matched the strain causing some illnesses in the outbreak. Officials found other types of Salmonella in soil and water samples at the site and are investigating whether those strains may also cause illnesses.

The FDA said the cucumber planting and harvesting season has ended at Bednar Growers Farm and no product from the farm is currently on the market, so there is “probably no ongoing risk to the public.”

Mahler said there may be other people who have become sick from eating contaminated cucumbers, but those cases have not yet been officially counted. While his company has only filed one lawsuit related to the outbreak, against Fresh Start Produce Sales and Bedner Growers, he said his team has reached out to others with similar reports.

“The farmers out there certainly don’t want this to happen, but I think it just underscores the importance of food safety — testing products before they go out to the market so that these outbreaks don’t happen,” Marler said.

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