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Topps Meat and Price Chopper E. coli Lawsuit

On September 7, 2005, the Albany County Health Department (ACHD) was notified that an eight-year-old girl was hospitalized with a diagnosis of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. A stool specimen was sent to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH) Wadsworth Center for E. coli O157:H7 testing. The test was confirmed positive on September 21, 2005.

During an investigation into the child’s illness, health officials learned that on August 26, she had had consumed a Topps brand quarter pound beef patty cooked on the grill at home. Most of the patties that came in the package of twelve frozen hamburgers had been eaten; however, two uncooked patties were in her parents’ freezer.

E. coli O157:H7 was later cultured in the two uncooked, frozen, beef patties. Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of the meat isolate and the child’s isolate showed the two were a genetic match, confirming that the meat was the source of her infection with E. coli O157:H7.

On November 3, 2005, Marler Clark's E. coli lawyers filed a lawsuit in Albany County Supreme Court on behalf of the eight-year-old child and her family. The case was resolved in August, 2007.

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E. coli lawsuit filed against meat supplier, grocer

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