Salmonella Spice Outbreak

Los Angeles, CAThe salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke continue to prosecute cases from the West Coast outbreak of rare Salmonella Rissen. In the past year, 90 people across five states have been sickened by this strain of foodborne illness, and 22 have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported yet.


The outbreak investigation

On March 27, Oregon State Public Health officials isolated Salmonella Rissen from containers of ground white and black pepper collected from a restaurant where a guest had fallen ill. DNA testing on the samples later confirmed that the salmonella found in the pepper matched the outbreak strain of Salmonella Rissen. The pepper was manufactured under the Lian How label by Union International Food Company of Union City, California. It was imported from Thailand by Harris & Freeman and Co., of Anaheim, California.

Officials subsequently discovered that contaminated Lian How white pepper was used at several Asian restaurants across the West Coast. At the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada, 10 people were contaminated in the space of five months. Testing on white pepper taken from the restaurant revealed another Salmonella Rissen isolate.

The investigation also revealed a cluster of 16 Salmonella Rissen patients who had recently eaten at one of the Northern California Kaiser hospitals. The California Department of Public Health confirmed that the pre-packaged hospital meals contained Lian How brand white pepper.

The CDPH, FDA, and Union International began testing production surfaces and stored product at the company's manufacturing plant in Union City. On April 7, the published results revealed over 50 positive salmonella samples from numerous locations in the pepper grinding room (grinding machine, platform areas, mixer, funnel, and weighing scales) as well as from ground white and black pepper in bulk bins.

As a result, Union Foods ceased production and distribution of the contaminated spices while the FDA and California Department of Public Health continued to investigate the nature and full extent of the outbreak. The contaminated spices were recalled from over 2000 retailers and restaurants that had received the contaminated products.

Simon & Luke files first spice lawsuit

On May 5, Simon & Luke filed the first lawsuit in the United States country relating to this outbreak. The suit was filed in Los Angeles County, California, on behalf of David Navarrette, a San Pedro resident who became violently ill after consuming contaminated food at the Grand Sierra Resort buffet in Reno, Nevada. DNA testing confirmed that he contracted the exact strain of Salmonella Rissen isolated from Lian How white pepper collected from the restaurant. Nine other consumers who ate at the restaurant over a 5-month period also contracted this exact strain of salmonella.

"We are going to determine how these spices became contaminated to make sure it does not happen again," said attorney Ron Simon, who filed the lawsuit and represents other victims of the outbreak.

About Salmonella Rissen

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, about 7 Salmonella Rissen cases are reported in the United States every year, making it one of the rarest serotypes of Salmonella isolated in American citizens. This serotype is more commonly found in other countries, particularly Thailand, where the spices involved in this outbreak were grown.