Kroger Ground Beef Outbreak
Pritzker | Ruohonen, a national food safety law firm, is representing a man who was sickened in this Kroger ground beef outbreak. We have also been contacted by the parents of other victims. If you or your child has a confirmed case of E. coli linked to Kroger ground beef, please contact our law firm at 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free).
State departments of health and agriculture in Michigan and Ohio, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. So far, 35 confirmed cases have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak. 16 of the cases are in Michigan and 19 are in Ohio. Onset of illness in these patients occurred from 5/30/08 to 6/11/08. 14 persons have been hospitalized in relation to the outbreak. One patient has developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths have been linked to the outbreak. Twenty (62%) of patients are female. Patients range in age from 4 to 78 years with a median age of 21 years.
Kroger ground beef has been linked to the this E. coli outbreak. State health and agriculture departments have tested ground beef recovered from patient residences and purchased at Kroger® retail stores in Michigan and Ohio. Molecular fingerprinting testing conducted by the Ohio and Michigan Departments of Health and Agriculture Laboratories, in collaboration with PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, on E. coli O157 isolates isolated from ground beef samples have confirmed the isolates to be the outbreak strain of E. coli O157.
Analysis of the case-control study data indicates a significant association between illness among case patients and eating ground beef purchased at at one of several Kroger® Co. stores in Michigan and Ohio. CDC has provided these results to the USDA-FSIS and public health agencies in Michigan and Ohio.
A recall has been announced for ground beef sold at Kroger® Co. Stores in Michigan and Ohio. The products subject to recall include all varieties and weights of ground beef products bearing a Kroger label sold between May 21 and June 8 at Michigan and Columbus and Toledo, Ohio. These ground beef products also include a sell-by date between May 21 and June 8.
The epidemiological and microbiological evidence of that Kroger ground beef is linked to the outbreak can be used in a Kroger E. coli lawsuit seeking compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress and other damages. We have used both epidemiological and microbiological evidence to successfully prove “causation,” an element of an E. coli lawsuit that looks at whether the suspected food product was the actual cause of the victim’s E. coli infection and related complications, including hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). HUS is one of the leading causes of kidney failure (renal failure).
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