A woman from Montana has sued Costco Wholesale Store and its vegetable supplier Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. because of the illness she contracted after eating rotisserie chicken salad made and sold at the company's Bozeman store.
When federal health officials tested samples of the vegetable blend in the salad, they found that it was positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
Minneapolis-based law firm PritzkerOlsen and its associates at Beck & Amsden in Bozeman represented the complainant, Kelsey Lee Thielbahr, when it filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Butte on Nov. 30. The 30-year-old physical therapy assistant from Gallatin County got infected by the pathogen and fell ill after eating the chicken salad she bought on Oct. 18.
On Nov. 27, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that a blend of celery and onions used in making the rotisserie chicken salad sold in Costco Wholesale stores is the likely cause of 19 cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections. Samples of the vegetable blend were tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
As a result of the lab test, Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc. of Tracy, California, which produced the celery and onion diced blend, voluntarily recalled its products that contain celery as these may be tainted with E. coli as well.
The reported cases came from Montana, Colorado, California, Utah, Missouri, Virginia and Washington. Most of the cases were reported in Montana and Utah. At least five people needed hospitalization but no deaths were reported. However, two people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition characterized by hemolytic anemia (destruction of red blood cells), acute kidney failure and thrombocytopenia (low platelet count).
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli can pose serious and potentially fatal complications if left untreated. Common symptoms include severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Most people recover within five to seven days but some infections may be acute especially for people who are susceptible to complications like infants, children, pregnant women, older adults and those who have underlying health conditions.
"This recall is being conducted in coordination with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Customers who have any recalled products are urged to discard the affected products," the FDA wrote in its recall update.
The CDC and federal health officials are continuing laboratory surveillance to determine if additional persons got sick after consuming products with the celery and onion diced blend.
