Pritzker Hageman attorneys have filed lawsuits on behalf of victims of Cyclospora food poisoning outbreak that has sickened people in Iowa, Nebraska and 15 additional states. These suits were filed against the owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, Darden Corporation, and the supplier of Taylor Farms salad mix to these restaurants.
Olive Garden Cyclospora Outbreak
We continue to get calls from people who were diagnosed with a Cyclospora infection (cyclsoporiasis) after eating a salad at Olive Garden in June or July, 2013. Most of the illness onset dates in this outbreak have ranged from mid-June through mid-July. Although Olive Garden has been associated with many of the illnesses in Iowa and Nebraska, other restaurants are involved in the outbreak. You can contact our food safety attorneys for a free consultation if you were diagnosed with a Cyclsopra infection, regardless of where you ate. It will not cost you anything to ask them about your legal rights.
The lawsuits filed to date (more will be filed soon) allege that the illnesses are linked to eating at Olive Garden restaurants located at 4930 Sergeant Road, Sioux City, Iowa, and Collins Rd NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The CDC Cyclospora outbreak update includes the following information:
CDC has been notified of 539 cases of Cyclospora infection from the following 19 states: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (including New York City), Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
There is still little information about the source of the outbreaks in Texas and Florida, where there are hundreds of victims. The Florida Cyclospora outbreak questionnaire asks if victims ate at Subway, McDonald’s and other restaurants, but this does not mean that food from these restaurants made anyone sick.
The FDA, CDC and Iowa and Nebraska health departments have traced the outbreak to a supplier of Olive Garden and Red Lobster lettuce salad mix, Taylor Farms de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. It is unclear whether this supplier is responsible for illnesses in other states.
