Cantaloupe salmonella outbreak: Minneapolis law firm files lawsuit
Cantaloupe file photo. (Photo by Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Food safety lawyers at Pritzker Hageman, a Minneapolis-based personal injury law firm, have filed a lawsuit related to the cantaloupe salmonella outbreak that’s sickened people across the country and led to several deaths, including three in Minnesota.
The law firm’s Salmonella legal team is representing the family of a 13-month-old boy who got a severe case of Salmonella after eating tainted cantaloupe from a Sam’s Club fruit platter in Pensacola, Florida, the law firm said in a press release. The child was in the hospital for several days with severe salmonella symptoms.
The lawsuit is against Sofia Produce, which operates under the name Trufresh, and the Pensacola Sam’s Club.
Trufresh did a massive recall of their cantaloupes in November after the outbreak of salmonella was linked back to the company's cantaloupes.
"Parents should never have to worry if the food they buy for their children is safe. We put our trust in food companies to produce safe food that won’t make us sick. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare to see their child suffer in the hospital because a food company failed to follow basic food safety procedures," attorney Ray Trueblood said in a statement.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 302 people in 42 states have gotten ill since mid-November. Of those, 129 have been hospitalized and four have died, three in Minnesota and one in Oregon. In Minnesota, at least 26 other people have gotten sick due to the outbreak.
The CDC advises not to eat pre-cut cantaloupes if you don’t know the brand, and throw away and pre-cut or whole cantaloupes that have been recalled. For a full list of recalled fruits, click here.
Symptoms of salmonella include cramping, diarrhea, nausea, or fever, often starting within a few hours to six days. Most people recover from the illness without treatment. Children under five, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to get sick.