The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken over the investigation of the Salmonella outbreak linked to Fig & Olive restaurants in Washington DC and California. The outbreak strain of Salmonella at both restaurants is the same.
Our law firm is representing people sickened in this outbreak and has filed lawsuits against other restaurants in the last few weeks on behalf of clients sickened with Salmonella infections.
The Washington DC Department of Health and Department of Forensic Sciences released a statement last week that said, “several other states with Fig & Olive restaurants are reporting Salmonella cases.” That chain has restaurants in New York, California, and Illinois as well as Washington DC.
The Fig & Olive restaurant in Washington, D.C. was closed for six days in mid-September while public health officials investigated that outbreak. Recent inspections did find food safety violations there that were corrected before the restaurant was allowed to reopen. At least 160 people who live in five states may have been sickened with Salmonella infections at that restaurant.
In the outbreak at the Melrose Place restaurant in Los Angeles, symptomatic food handlers were removed from the job and submitted stool samples for lab analysis. That outbreak has sickened at least 12 people in California.
The only clue we have so far in this outbreak is that two items were not on the menu when the Washington DC restaurant reopened. Truffle fries and mushroom croquettes were no longer available after the closure. Officials said that the restaurant makes its own truffle oil.
If the outbreak strain of Salmonella bacteria is the same in all of the restaurants where sick people ate, that points to a common food source as a potential cause. Restaurants often buy food from the same supplier.
We do not know what caused the outbreak in this restaurant chain. But there is a nationwide outbreak ongoing at this time linked to cucumbers imported from Mexico. Andrew & Williamson distributed the produce to grocery stores, restaurants, and distributors all over the country. A distribution list for those cucumbers has not been released, so we do not know exactly where they were sold.
At the same time, a Salmonella outbreak in Minnesota at Chipotle restaurants is linked to tomatoes used in tomato salsa. There is no indication that the Fig & Olive outbreak is linked to tomatoes, but this outbreak shows that Salmonella infections can be caused by a wide variety of foods.
The symptoms of a Salmonella food poisoning infection include fever, chills, nausea, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea that may be bloody. If you have eaten at a Fig & Olive restaurant and have experienced these symptoms, please see your doctor.
Then call our law firm or fill out our consultation form and talk to one of our experienced lawyers to protect your legal rights. Restaurants and grocery stores are required by law to sell food that is wholesome and not contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. You can be compensated if you are sickened and it is proven that your illness was caused by the food served at a restaurant or sold in a grocery store.