Minnesota Salmonella Death: 2 Minnesota Deaths Tied to Salmonella
A second death in Minnesota has been reported by health officials in connection with a nationwide Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak that has hit the state hard. The overall wave of 425 illnesses in 43 states has been tied to bulk packages of peanut butter by health investigators in Minnesota and at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health, told the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) that the second Minnesota patient who died with the Salmonella infection was a man in his 70s who lived in a nursing home and had numerous underlying health problems. Previously, a 72-year-old woman who also had underlying health conditions also died after being sickened by the bacteria. Two other outbreak-related deaths were reported in Virginia.
Top food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker of Minneapolis said Wednesday that he has been retained to represent the heirs of the Minnesota woman who died. Pritzker, whose firm is one of the few in the country that practices extensively in foodborne illness litigation, has experience in practically all major food poisoning outbreaks, including the 2007 Salmonella outbreak associated with Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter.
To contact Fred Pritzker, please call (612)-338-0202, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free) or submit our free consultation form.
Minnesota now has 33 confirmed cases associated with the outbreak, up from 30 cases last week, the state department of health said. Schultz told CIDRAP that 12 of the patients were living in nursing homes and 13 were hospitalized.
After Minnesota investigators found Salmonella Typhimurium last week in a five-pound tub of King Nut creamy peanut butter that had been in use at a nursing home, Ohio-based King Nut Companies announced a voluntary recall of all of its peanut butter products. The brand, made under contract by Peanut Corporation of America, is sold only to foodservice accounts like long-term care facilities, hospitals, schools, and other institutions. Additional testing of the peanut butter in Minnesota confirmed a genetic match between the Salmonella in the peanut butter and the Salmonella found in the 43-state outbreak.
On Wednesday, more recalls were announced.
Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America recalled King Nut and Parnell’s Pride peanut butter produced in its Blakely, Georgia, processing plant “because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.”
Later, Kellogg Company of Battle Creek, Mich., said it was putting a hold on all of its inventories of Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter sandwich crackers, peanut butter and jelly sandwich crackers, cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers and peanut butter-chocolate sandwich crackers.
Kellogg said it was taking the step as a precaution and was unaware of any illness complaints. The company said the move was prompted by the Salmonella outbreak because Peanut Corporation of America supplies some of the peanut paste that goes into the peanut crackers.
3 Deaths in Salmonella Outbreak
According to USA Today’s latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, 425 people in 43 states have been sickened by the same genetically matched strain of Salmonella Typhimurium. The 4-month-old outbreak has become associated with three deaths: one in Minnesota and two in Virginia, according to the newspaper.
The CDC and health investigators from the state of Minnesota and other states are still investigating the outbreak. The CDC has said its own research has shown that commercially sold peanut butter — not retail brands purchased at grocery stores — is the likely cause of the outbreak. In Minnesota, officials have issued a product advisory against King Nut brand peanut butter because a container of the product that was in use at a Minnesota long-term care facility tested positive in a genetic match to the outbreak strain of Salmonella.
In addition, distributor King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio, has recalled all King Nut peanut butter.
Minneapolis attorney Fred Pritzker, whose firm is one of the few in the nation practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation, has called on the responsible companies to quickly pay medical bills and wage loss benefits of victims. He said it is a sign of something wrong with the federal food safety system for this to be the second Salmonella outbreak involving peanut butter in less than two years. Read our press release below.
Pritzker, who has been involved in practically every major food poisoning outbreak including the Peter Pan peanut butter outbreak of early 2007, has collected millions of dollars on behalf of victims of food poisoning. For more information, visit http://www.pritzkerlaw.com/ or contact Fred Pritzker at (612) 338-0202.
Pritzker Press Release
Minneapolis, Minn. (January 12, 2009) — The second major U.S. Salmonella outbreak in less than 24 months involving peanut butter suggests an industry-wide problem and demonstrates the need for more intense regulation and faster detection of an outbreak’s source, leading food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker said.
“The American public should not have to guess about the safety of a product beloved by children,” said Pritzker, one of the nation’s most experienced practitioners of foodborne illness litigation.
King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio, has announced a recall of its King Nut brand of peanut butter after the Minnesota Department of Health, working in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, announced it found evidence that Salmonella Typhimurium found in a five-pound container of King Nut creamy peanut is a genetic match to the strains of Salmonella associated with the national outbreak.
King Nut peanut butter is manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America, a company based in Lynchburg, Virginia. The brand is sold to commercial foodservice accounts, including nursing homes and hospitals, not to retail stores.
Pritzker’s Minneapolis law firm has been closely monitoring developments in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak that has sickened at least 410 people in 43 states since mid-September, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three deaths are associated with the outbreak, the CDC has said. In early 2007, Pritzker witnessed first hand the suffering of clients sickened in a nationwide Salmonella outbreak caused by Peter Pan and Great Value brand peanut butter.
In that instance, ConAgra recalled the product, but not before it was linked to 628 Salmonella illnesses in 47 states, according to the CDC.
Pritzker said federal agencies have failed to readily find the cause of two consecutive Salmonella outbreaks, raising questions about the government’s effectiveness. Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration drew heavy criticism for falsely correlating a nationwide Salmonella outbreak with U.S.-grown tomatoes. After weeks passed and more than 1,400 people became ill, the same Minnesota investigators who zeroed in on King Nut peanut butter correctly linked last year’s Salmonella outbreak to jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico.
Pritzker said the record is evidence that more resources must be devoted to federal food safety — both in prevention of contamination and detection of outbreaks. The current system is undermined by too much fragmentation of responsibility and not enough coordination between federal, state and local agencies, Pritzker said.
“This means more money and more staff must be devoted to federal food safety,” Pritzker said.
“One also has to wonder if microbiological testing is lax,” Pritzker said, especially in manufactured foods such as peanut butter. “This isn’t a case involving fresh produce that is difficult to test. It’s about a food product with a long shelf life that should not be allowed to leave the manufacturer unless its safety is confirmed.”
Pritzker called on the companies involved in the latest outbreak to launch a major communications effort to alert consumers to the dangers associated with the products that have been recalled. The campaign should include instructions for handling and testing product believed to be associated with the outbreak, he said.
In addition, Pritzker called on the responsible companies to immediately agree to pay for medical expenses and wage loss benefits for victims linked to the outbreak. There also should be a prompt and robust plan for reimbursing purchasers for the cost of the recalled product, he said.
King Nut Peanut Butter Salmonella
There is a nationwide outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium poisoning that has stricken at least 399 people in 42 states. The number of cases will undoubtedly rise as further outbreak cases are detected.
A possible source of this outbreak is peanut butter sold by King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio.
On Saturday, the company voluntarily recalled the peanut butter it sells just one day after the Minnesota Department of Health issued a product advisory against King Nut creamy peanut butter sold in five-pound tubs. The advisory stemmed from preliminary lab tests that found Salmonella bacteria in a five-pound open container of King Nut creamy peanut butter. The Minnesota health investigators said an epidemiological investigation had implicated the product as the likely source of 30 Salmonella infections in Minnesota. Those cases have the same genetic fingerprint as cases in the national outbreak. The results of tests conducted to confirm the linkage are expected soon.
One of the Minnesotans sickened in the outbreak died, but an official with the Minnesota Department of Health said the person — who was in her 70s –also had other health conditions. (Minnesota Salmonella wrongful death information)
King Nut peanut butter is distributed in Minnesota and other states to establishments such as long-term care facilities, hospitals, schools, universities, restaurants, delis, cafeterias and bakeries. King Nut peanut butter is not distributed for retail sale in grocery stores.
Salmonella gastroenteritis is the most common form of salmonellosis and generally requires an 8-48 hour incubation period (the time it takes to feel sick after eating food contaminated by Salmonella Typhimurium.) The illness may last from 2-5 days or longer if complications are present. The clinical course of human salmonellosis is usually characterized by acute onset of fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and sometimes vomiting. In some cases, particularly in the very young and in the elderly, the associated dehydration can become severe and life-threatening. In such cases, as well as in cases where Salmonella causes bloodstream infection, effective antimicrobials are essential drugs for treatment. Serious complications occur in a small proportion of cases.
Experience you can trust
PritzkerLaw is one of the most experienced food safety law firms in the United States with involvement in practically every major food poisoning outbreak including the Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds of people less than two years ago.
If you have been sickened by this Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak, you may be entitled to compensation. Read how to prove a Salmonella case (King Nut peanut butter lawsuit).
