Wal-Mart Jalapeno and Serrano Pepper Salmonella Outbreak Lawsuit - Nationwide (2008)
In April of 2008, public health officials in several states and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began investigating a Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. Initial reports from case-patients led investigators to believe that tomatoes were the source of the Salmonella outbreak; however, it was later determined that jalapeno and Serrano peppers grown in Mexico were the source.
By August of 2009, outbreak investigators had identified 1442 people who had become infected with Salmonella Saintpaul after eating contaminated jalapeno and Serrano peppers, and indicated that tomatoes may have been an additional source of infection at the beginning of the outbreak. At least 286 people were hospitalized with Salmonella Saintpaul infections during this outbreak, and two people’s deaths may have been caused by their Salmonella infections.
On August 28, 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that CDC investigators had been working with state, local, and tribal health departments to investigate the nationwide Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. CDC stated that testing of jalapeno and Serrano peppers, and water from a farm in Mexico where the peppers were grown, tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul.
Marler Clark filed a Salmonella lawsuit against Wal-Mart, and the distributor of Salmonella Saintpaul-contaminated peppers that were sold at Wal-Mart stores in July of 2008. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Colorado resident who became ill with Salmonella after eating fresh jalapeno peppers purchased from a Wal-Mart store in Cortez, Colorado.
Additional Case News
- Tomato-Pepper Salmonella: Frustration led to Lawsuit
- Tomato-Pepper Salmonella: Why the Grubbs are Suing Wal-Mart
- Tomato-Pepper Salmonella Outbreak: It Ain't over till it's Over
- Mexican Peppers Posed Problem Long Before Outbreak
- Mexican Farm Tied to Salmonella Outbreak
- Slow to Pick Up The Pepper Trail
- A Hot (pepper) Lead in Hunt for Salmonella Source - How the Minnesota HD Cracked the Case
- Salmonella-tainted Jalapeno Found in Texas
- FDA ends warning on tomatoes, focuses on peppers
- In Salmonella Outbreak, Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Says: ‘No One to Sue’
- Warning Issued on Tainted Peppers
- As Outbreak Affects 1,000, Experts See Flaws in Law
- Salmonella Signs Point to Peppers
- Latest Suspect in Salmonella Outbreak: Fresh salsa
- Anger Rises Over Salmonella Probe
- CDC Investigates Possible Non-tomato Salmonella Sources
- Are Tomatoes Really Cause of Salmonella Outbreak?
- Florida Agricultural Commissioner Urges Precise Tomato IDs
- Dr. Michael Osterholm on Incompetent Management of the Salmonella Saintpaul Tomato Investigation
- FDA Inspectors to Florida, Mexico in Salmonella Probe
- How Modern Science and Old-fashioned Detective Work Identified Tomatoes
- Hunt for Source of Salmonella-Tainted Tomatoes Continues
- Why so long to trace a bad tomato?
- Lengthy Process in FDA Recall of Tomatoes
- DC: Salmonella-tainted tomato illnesses reach 228
- Where's The Food Safety Net?
- Tomato scare unlikely to alter laws
- Food Sellers Treat Tomatoes Like Hot Potatoes
- Search for Source of Salmonella in Tomatoes in High Gear
- FDA Expands Red Tomato Warning Nationwide
- Salmonella scare holds the tomato
- Salmonella outbreak linked to raw tomatoes strikes about 150
- 11 More Salmonella Cases Possibly Tied to Tomatoes Reported in Texas
- Officials scramble to pinpoint cause of Salmonella outbreak in tomatoes