Salmonella Lawsuit

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As of November 5, 2018, 164 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Reading have been reported from 35 states.

Illnesses started on dates from November 20, 2017, to October 20, 2018. Ill people range in age from less than one year to 91, with a median age of 45. Fifty-six percent of ill people are female. Of 135 people with information available, 63 (47%) have been hospitalized. One death has been reported from California.

State and local health departments continue to interview ill people about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. Of 85 people interviewed, 44 (52%) people interviewed reported preparing or eating turkey products that were purchased raw, including ground turkey, turkey pieces, and whole turkey. Ill people reported buying many different brands of raw turkey products from multiple stores. Also, 3 of the 85 ill people interviewed became sick after pets in their home ate raw ground turkey pet food. Three of the 85 ill people interviewed worked in a facility that raises or processes turkeys, or lived with someone who did.

The outbreak strain of Salmonella Reading has been identified in samples from raw turkey pet food in Minnesota, from live turkeys from several states, and from raw turkey products collected from ill people’s homes. The raw turkey samples collected from ill people’s homes are still being investigated to determine the source of the turkey.

The outbreak strain was also identified in samples from raw turkey products from 22 slaughter and 7 processing establishments. The samples collected by FSIS at these slaughter and processing establishments were part of FSIS’s routine testing under the Salmonella performance standards. Furthermore, whole genome sequencing (WGS) showed that the Salmonella strain isolated from these samples is closely related genetically to the Salmonella strain from ill people. This result provides more evidence that people in this outbreak got sick from preparing raw turkey products.

Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales, LLC, a Barron, Wis. establishment, is recalling approximately 91,388 pounds of raw ground turkey products that may be associated with an illness outbreak of Salmonella Reading, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The raw ground turkey products items were produced on September 11, 2018. The following products are subject to recall:

  • 1-lb. packages of “Jennie-O GROUND TURKEY 93% LEAN | 7% FAT” with “Use by” dates of 10/01/2018 and 10/02/2018.
  • 1-lb. packages of “Jennie-O TACO SEASONED GROUND TURKEY” with a “Use by” date of 10/02/2018.
  • 1-lb. packages of “Jennie-O GROUND TURKEY 85% LEAN | 15% FAT” with a “Use by” date of 10/02/2018.
  • 1-lb. packages of “Jennie-O ITALIAN SEASONED GROUND TURKEY” with a “Use by” date of 10/02/2018.

The products subject to recall bear establishment number “P-190” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide.

FSIS, and its public health partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Arizona Department of Health Services, have been conducting traceback activities for a sample of Jennie-O brand ground turkey in an intact, unopened package from a case-patient’s home. The patient tested positive for Salmonella Reading and the sample from the ground turkey matches the outbreak strain.