Dole and Natural Selections Spinach E. coli Outbreak Litigation
On September 14, 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that a nationwide E. coli O157:H7outbreak had been associated with the consumption of baby spinach. Multiple spinach recalls ensued, and on September 19, 2006, FDA announced that all spinach implicated in the outbreak had been traced back to a processing facility operated by Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Bautista, California, a company located in the Salinas Valley.
As of October 12, 2006, FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had confirmed 204 E. coli illnesses associated with the outbreak, including thirty-one cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, 104 hospitalizations, and three deaths. Victims of the E. coli outbreak were identified in 26 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Wisconsin was the state hardest-hit in the outbreak, with 49 confirmed cases. Canada reported one confirmed case.
A joint traceback by FDA and the State of California revealed that four spinach fields were the possible source of the E. coli contamination. The outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from cattle fields nearby the implicated spinach fields, as well as from a wild boar that was killed in one of the fields. The investigation into how the outbreak originated is ongoing.
Marler Clark represented 93 victims of the E. coli outbreak, and filed lawsuits on behalf of individuals from Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Nebraska, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin. In the spring of 2007 Marler Clark resolved cases on behalf of three families whose elderly family members died after eating Dole spinach. In the summer of 2007, the firm resolved 41 additional cases. Since that time, Marler Clark has resolved several more cases, and continues to work towards the resolution of the remainder.
PRESS RELEASES:
Dole sued by Oregon E. coli victim
Second lawsuit filed by victims of E. coli outbreak traced to spinach
Utah child sues California spinach producer and manufacturer over E. coli illness
E. coli attorney calls on spinach industry to pay victims’ medical bills
Family of Nebraska spinach E. coli victim files suit
More about the Dole and Natural Selections E. coli outbreak can be found on the Marler Clark-sponsored site about E. coli.
