If you got an E. coli infection from contaminated lettuce, you may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and other damages. For more information about how you can file a lawsuit, contact our E. coli lawyers by calling 1-888-377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856, or by completing the form below.
Columbus Ohio October/November 2020 Lawsuit: Our E. coli legal team just filed suit against Chipotle on behalf of a client sickened with E. coli in Columbus, Ohio after she ate a burrito bowl from Chipotle. Our food safety lawyers are investigating if this is tied to a larger E. coli outbreak just announced by the CDC.
“Our law firm looks at how lettuce linked to outbreaks gets contaminated with E. coli, a deadly bacteria. The companies responsible need to be held accountable.”Attorney Fred Pritzker
“Our law firm looks at how lettuce linked to outbreaks gets contaminated with E. coli, a deadly bacteria. The companies responsible need to be held accountable.”Attorney Fred PritzkerHow Does Lettuce Get Contaminated with E. coli?
E. coli bacteria live in the intestines of humans and animals. Most strains are harmless but some found in the intestines of cattle, sheep, goats and other animals, make a poison called a Shiga toxin which causes serious illness and death in humans. In the U.S., seven strains of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) account for about 75 percent of all E. coli illnesses. They are E. coli O157:H7, E. coli O26, E. coli O111, E. coli O121, E. coli O45, E. coli O145 and E. coli O103.
Contamination occurs when animal feces containing STEC make contact with leafy greens. This can happen at a number of points; in the soil or irrigation water at farms, in facilities where food is processed, in trucks used for transport, in restaurant kitchens, or through cross-contamination by another contaminated food product.
Food should never be contaminated with animal feces containing a deadly pathogen. Food companies and restaurants are responsible for making sure the food they sell and serve is safe. Our E. coli lawyers have represented clients in every major E. coli outbreak in the U.S. We help clients get justice and hold companies with lax safety standards accountable.
Fred Pritzker, our lead food safety lawyer, and head of our food safety legal team, has decades of experience working on the problem of E. coli contaminated lettuce. He has won large settlements and justice for people seriously injured by lettuce contaminated with fecal E. coli. He has also fought tirelessly to get producers and regulators to address the ongoing problem of E. coli contamination in our nations fresh produce supply.
Recent Lettuce E. coli Outbreaks
November 2020 Tanimura & Antle Romaine – Possibly Linked to New Michigan Outbreak
E. coli 0157:H7 samples collected from Tanimura & Antle romaine are closely related genetically to E. coli causing two recent illnesses in Michigan.
October 2020 Multiple Outbreaks Possibly Tied to Leafy Greens, Likely Romaine
Two E. coli outbreaks were announced by the CDC on the same day. One is genetically similar to the 2019 Salinas E. coli outbreaks and one is genetically similar to the 2018 Yuma romaine outbreak. 44 people have been sickened, so far, and 1 has died.
2019 Fresh Express Sunflower Crisp Salad E. coli Outbreak
This E. coli O157:H7 outbreak included 10 illnesses from five states: Georgia (1), Illinois (1), Minnesota (4), North Dakota (1), and Wisconsin (3). The illnesses were reported from November 5 -November 16, 2019. Four people were hospitalized one of whom developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of kidney failure associated with E. coli infections.
2019 Salinas-Grown Romaine E. coli Outbreak
This E. coli O157:H7 outbreak included 167 cases in 27 states. Eighty-five people were hospitalized, 15 of whom developed HUS including one of our clients a young woman from Minnesota who nearly died from her infection.
2018 California-Grown Romaine E. coli Outbreak
This E. coli O157:H7 outbreak included 62 people in 16 states. Almost half of the case-patients, 46 percent, required hospitalization. And two of them developed HUS.
2018 Yuma-Grown Romaine E. coli Outbreak
This E. coli O157:H7 outbreak was first announced on April 10, 2018. By the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared its end three months later, 210 people in 36 states had been sickened. Ninety-six were hospitalized, 27 had developed HUS and five people had died.
2017 Leafy Greens E. coli Outbreak
The genetic fingerprint of the E. coli O157:H7 responsible for this outbreak, which sickened 25 people in 15 states, was later found to be the same as the 2018 California Grown Romaine Outbreak and the 2019 Salinas Grown E. coli Outbreak.