A Salmonella Newport outbreak linked to contaminated onions has sickened 90 people in Utah, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The illnesses are part of a larger outbreak that has sickened hundreds in 43 other states and Canada. Fifty-nine people have been hospitalized.
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For weeks, health officials have been working to discover the food source of the rapidly growing outbreak. The breakthrough came this week when Canadian health officials discovered a link between illnesses in that country and foods containing red onions supplied by Sysco. The company issued a recall of Imperial Fresh brand red onions that were distributed in Canada to food service establishments, restaurants, retailers, distributors, manufacturers and institutions including long-term care facilities.
Working with Canadian health officials, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was able to trace back the source of the illnesses in the U.S. to onions supplied by Thomson International Inc. of Bakersfield, CA. On August 1, 2020, Thomson issued a recall for red, white and yellow onions sold under a variety of brand names (including Imperial Fresh) and in various sizes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is advising consumers not to eat foods containing onions if they do not know for certain that the onions were not supplied by Thomson.
Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. These symptoms usually develop between six and 72 hours of exposure. If you developed these symptoms after eating onions or products containing them such as sandwiches, wraps, salads, salsa and dips, see a healthcare provider and get tested.
In the U.S., cases have been reported from the following 43 states. Eighty-five people were so sick they needed to be hospitalized. The number of cases reported form each state are: AK (6), AL (1), AZ (14), CA (76), CO (14), CT (2), DE (1), FL (3), GA (1), ID (26), IL (41), IN (2), IA (20), KS (2), KY (1), ME (4), MD (1), MA (2), MI (36), MN (14), MS (2), MO (6), MT (52), NE (10), NV (8), NH(1), NJ (2), NM (1), NY (5), NC (5), ND (8), OH (8), OR (85), PA (9), SC (1), SD (17), TN (5), , UT (90), VA (8), WA (25), WV (2), WI (7), WY (16).
Utah is one of the states hardest hit by the outbreak, which includes people who range in age from less than 1 to 102 years old. They reported symptoms of Salmonella infection, which include diarrhea, nausea, fever and abdominal cramps on dates ranging from June 19 to July 12.
If you have been sickened in this outbreak and would like a free consultation with an experienced Salmonella lawyer, please contact the Pritzker Hageman Salmonella Legal Team. We have represented clients in every major Salmonella outbreak in the U.S. You can reach us by calling 1-888-377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856, or by completing the form below. There is no obligation and we don’t get paid unless we win.