Costco Cantaloupe Salmonella Lawsuit Attorney

Our Salmonella attorneys are currently investigating an outbreak of Salmonella Panama linked to cantaloupe sold at Costco in Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They have experience suing Costco and are currently representing several food poisoning victims who we are alleging consumed contaminated cheese at Costco stores in several states.

On March 22, 2011, Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. issued a recall on 4, 992 cases of the cantaloupe after U.S. health officials found a link between the cantaloupes and 12 reported cases of Salmonella Panama in Oregon (5 cases), Washington (4 cases), California (2 cases) and Maryland (1 case). The cantaloupes were grown at Asuncion Mita, a Guatemalan farm owned by Del Monte.

If you contracted a Salmonella Panama infection after consuming Del Monte cantaloupe purchased from Costco, you may have a claim for damages against Costco and Del Monte. Your case must be analyzed and investigated to determine who you have the right to sue (it may be multiple parties) and the value of your case.

The Salmonella attorneys at Pritzker Olsen have won millions for our food poisoning clients, including $6,425,000 in one case. Call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) for a free consultation.

Proving a Foodborne Illness Case

In order to make a successful claim for a food poisoning injury, a person (through their attorney) must prove three things:

Fault – the food product was defective.

Causation – the defect caused the illness.

Damages – harms and losses occurred as a result of consuming the defective food product.

Proving Fault: By definition, in many states, a food product is defective “if an ordinary consumer would not reasonably expect the food product to contain the substance that caused the harm.” Since a food consumer does not expect their food to be contaminated with Salmonella or any other pathogen, this aspect of a case is not usually difficult to prove (some states do require proof of food adulteration).

Proving Causation: In order to prove causation, it is not enough to identify the foodborne illness symptoms. The specific foodborne pathogen responsible for the victim’s symptoms must be identified. This is done through testing, usually of the victim’s stool, blood or other bodily fluids. Ideally, the testing should be done before antibiotics are prescribed because antibiotics may often kill off the pathogen.

Once the specific pathogen responsible for the illness is identified, it must be traced back to the particular food product or source that was consumed. This is performed through a combination of microbiology and epidemiology.

The microbiological proof consists of the tests run on the stool or blood samples or other bodily fluids. Identifying the particular pathogen is critically important.

The epidemiology involves piecing together potential sources of infection (stores, restaurants and food products as well as water and animal exposures) to determine the source of the illness that the microbiologists identified. Proof of causation often depends on reports of foodborne illness being received by local and state health department officials.

Proving Damages: The final element to prove is that the victim suffered monetary losses (damages) as a result of the foodborne pathogen responsible for the outbreak. At this point, an economic calculation must be made to determine whether the damages are serious enough to justify the time and expense of pursuing a Salmonella foodborne illness case.

Salmonella Lawsuit Attorney

To contact a Salmonella lawyer at Pritzker Olsen law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or submit our Salmonella case review form. Salmonella lawyer Fred Pritzker has a national practice and represents Salmonella victims throughout the United States.

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