The national food safety lawyers at Pritzker Hageman law firm have filed the first lawsuit against Wonderful Pistachios for Salmonella food poisoning. The suit was filed on behalf of a Minnesota man who was sickened with Salmonella Montevideo after consuming pistachios.
The suit was filed today, March 17, 2016, in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota (Case 0:16-cv-00676). It names Wonderful Pistachios & Almonds LLC, a Delaware company with principal place of business located in Lost Hills, California, as the defendant.
The lawsuit alleges our client contracted Salmonella Montevideo from a Wonderful Pistachios product he consumed in February of 2016. Salmonella is a bacterium that is shed in human and animal feces. When ingested, it can cause severe gastroenteritis called salmonellosis.
Our client ingested pistachios in early February and was diagnosed with salmonellosis. Testing on Salmonella isolates obtained from our client was done, and health officials concluded that he was part of the multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo associated with eating Wonderful Pistachios products. At least 11 people from 9 different states have been sickened as a part of this outbreak, according to the CDC: Alabama (1), Arizona (2), Connecticut (1), Georgia (1), Michigan (1), Minnesota (1), North Dakota (1), Virginia (1) and Washington (2). Illness onset dates ranged from December 12, 2015, to February 9, 2016.
Collaborative investigative efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory officials indicate that pistachios produced by Wonderful Pistachios of Lost Hills, California are a likely source of this outbreak.
Wonderful Pistachio Recall
On March 9, 2016, Wonderful Pistachios issued a recall of a limited number of flavors and sizes of in-shell and shelled pistachios because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. The pistachios were sold under the brand names of Wonderful, Paramount Farms and Trader Joe’s.
The products, which were distributed through several retailers, including Walmart and Trader Joe’s, can be identified by a 13-digit lot code number that can be found on the lower back or bottom panel of the package. Click here for a Wonderful Pistachios recall list.
Legal Help
Our food safety lawyers have helped hundreds of people sickened by contaminated food get answers, compensation, and justice. They have won millions for their clients, including $4.5 million for one client who developed kidney failure. Our legal team can be contacted at 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free) for a free, no-obligation consultation.