(Bakersfield, California) Today, Marler Clark filed a Salmonella Lawsuit on behalf of a Canadian citizen in United States Federal Court in California for her illness linked to Salmonella Newport – tainted onions from Thomson International. Marler Clark is working with Craig Murphy of Murphy & Murphy on behalf of Kendra Cooper of Edmonton, Alberta, who became sick on July 6 with Salmonella Newport after consuming Thomson red onions contained on a Super Bacon Thickburger from Carl’s Jr. Complaint.Conformed
“This is the second U.S. produced food product that has sickened Canadians as well as U.S. citizens in the last 30 days – first, the Fresh Express Cyclospora outbreak sickened 641 in the U.S. and 37 in Canada – now it is Salmonella sickening at least 516 in the U|.S. and Canada,” said, food safety lawyer, William Marler. “U.S. producers and regulators need to step up their game or borders will close not only to U.S. citizens due to COVID, but also to food produced in the U.S.,” added Marler.
According to Canadian health authorities, as of August 2, 2020, there have been 120 confirmed cases of Salmonella Newport illness linked to this outbreak in the following provinces: British Columbia (43), Alberta (56), Saskatchewan (4), Manitoba (13), Ontario (2), Quebec (1) and Prince Edward Island (1). Seventeen individuals have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported. Individuals who became ill are between 3 and 100 years of age. The majority of cases (56%) are female.
Whole genome sequencing analysis shows that an outbreak of Salmonella Newport infections in Canada is related genetically to this outbreak in the United States. This means that people in both of these outbreaks are likely to share a common source of infection.
According to the United States CDC and FDA, as of July 29, 2020, a total of 396 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Newport have been reported from 34 states. Alaska (6), Arizona (14), California (49), Colorado (10), Florida (3), Idaho (5), Illinois (10), Indiana (2), Iowa (15), Kansas (1), Kentucky (1), Maine (4), Maryland (1), Michigan (23), Minnesota (10), Missouri (6), Montana (33), Nebraska (5), Nevada (5), New York (4), North Carolina (3), North Dakota (5), Ohio (7), Oregon (71), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), South Dakota (11), Tennessee (5), Texas (1), Utah (61), Virginia (4), Washington (2), Wisconsin (5) and Wyoming (11). Fifty-nine hospitalizations have been reported.
Many ill people were identified as part of illness clusters. An illness cluster is defined as two or more people who do not live in the same household who report eating at the same restaurant location, attending a common event, or shopping at the same location of a grocery store in the week before becoming ill.
Twenty-two illness clusters have been identified in seven states. Information from these clusters shows that many ill people ate red onions. The traceback information collected from these illness clusters identified Thomson International, Inc., of Bakersfield, Calif., as a likely source of red onions. Due to the way onions are grown and harvested, other onion types, such as, white, yellow or sweet yellow, may also be contaminated. Additional traceback is ongoing to determine if other onions are linked to the outbreak.
On August 1, 2020, Thomson International, Inc., voluntarily recalled red, yellow, white, and sweet yellow onions because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. Consumers, restaurants, and retailers should not eat, serve, or sell recalled onions from Thomson International, Inc., of Bakersfield, Calif.
Additional Resources: