The food safety attorneys at Pritzker Hageman law firm filed a third lawsuit in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to chicken salad sold at Fareway grocery stores. The lawsuit was filed against Fareway Stores, Inc. and Triple T Specialty Meats, Inc., the company that made the chicken salad and sold it in bulk to be repackaged for Fareway. The suit was filed on February 22, 2018, in Iowa District Court, Johnson County.
Salmonella Typhimurium from Fareway Chicken Salad
On February 3, 2018, our client purchased “Fareway Chicken Salad” from the deli counter of the Fareway grocery store located at 615 Westwood Drive, North Liberty, Iowa. Five days later, she began feeling ill with nausea, fatigue, a loss of appetite, stomach pain, fever and diarrhea, all symptoms of Salmonella. By February 14, she was admitted to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a Salmonella Typhimurium infection. The doctors were concerned that the Salmonella infection would result in her body rejecting the new liver she had received during transplant surgery just two months before eating the contaminated Fareway chicken salad.
Our client remained hospitalized in the ICU until February 20, 2018. Although out of the hospital, she will need continued medical care, and doctors will have to closely monitor her condition to make sure she does not lose her transplanted liver.
Why Sue Both Fareway and the Supplier, Triple T?
Our Salmonella lawsuits are alleging that both Fareway and Triple T are legally responsible for the illnesses caused by the contaminated chicken salad. As the supplier of the chicken salad, Triple T was responsible for having a sanitary processing facility and for testing for dangerous pathogens like Salmonella bacteria. Our investigation will look into when, where and why the chicken salad was contaminated. Suppliers like Triple T are legally responsible if they sell a contaminated food product to a retailer. This means that anyone sickened by their product can sue for compensation with adequate evidence to support a personal injury claim.
Triple T sold the chicken salad in bulk for repackaging in Fareway deli containers. Our lawsuits make the following argument:
“Fareway contracted with Triple T to exclusively produce Fareway brand chicken salad for all Fareway stores. Fareway had a duty to use ingredients, supplies, and other constituent materials that were reasonably safe, wholesome, free of defects, and that otherwise complied with applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, and regulations, and that were clean, free from adulteration, and safe for human consumption, but Fareway failed to do so.”
Using both epidemiological and microbiological evidence, the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has linked dozens of cases of Salmonella Typhimurium to Fareway chicken salad made by Triple T Specialty Meats. As of today, in Iowa, there are 37 confirmed cases and 78 probable cases, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. There are also cases in Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
IDPH informed our client that she was part of the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to Fareway chicken salad made by Triple T. She contacted our law firm to represent her. This lawsuit seeks compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering and other harm.