DeFusco’s Bakery Lawsuit for Salmonella Victim Compensation
Over 60 people have been sickened in the Providence, Rhode Island area Salmonella Hadar outbreak linked to zeppole pasteries from DeFusco’s Bakery in Johnston, RI. Twenty-seven of the people sickened were hospitalized, and three of them are still in the hospital.
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Our Salmonella lawyers have represented hundreds of people sickened by Salmonella and the families of people who died after contracting a Salmonella infection (salmonellosis). Our law firm is one of a handful in the United States that has a national Salmonella litigation practice.
Defusco’s Lawsuit: Negligence, Strict Liability and Breach of Warranty
DeFusco’s Bakery lawsuit theories of recovery include the following:
Negligence: Evidence suggests that DeFusco’s Bakery stored baked zeppole pasteries in boxes that had held raw eggs. This is a violation of health codes and something any reasonable manufacturer of pastries would not do because raw eggs are know to be a food product that has a high risk of Salmonella contamination. Health officials tested the boxes and found the outbreak strain of Salmonella Hadar. In addition, an investigation of DeFusco’s Bakery found a number of other health violations.- Strict Liability: Manufactures and sellers of food contaminated with Salmonella are liable (legally responsible) to consumers for any harm caused by the contamination. DeFusco’s Bakery manufactured and sold pastries that were contaminated with Salmolnella, according to epidemiological and microbiological evidence gathered by health officials. This evidence also points to the contaminated pastries, primarily zeppoles, as the cause of the outbreak of Salmonella Hadar and substantial harm to over 60 people, including children and elderly people.
- Breach of Warranty: Sellers of food products warrant that the food sold is fit to eat by the purchaser. A pastry contaminated with Salmonella is not fit to eat.
Contact our law firm for a free consultation regarding a DeFusco’s Bakery lawsuit.
Lawsuit against DeFusco’s Bakery in Rhode Island for Salmonella in Zeppole Pasteries
Our Salmonella attorneys have won lawsuits against retailers who sold food contaminated with Salmonella and growers, processors and distributors of contaminated food. We have won millions for our clients in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits seeking compensation for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of a loved one, medical expenses, lost wages, and other damages. Attorney David Szerlag, part of our Salmonella litigation team, is licensed to practice law in Rhode Island.
Free consultation with a Salmonella lawyer >>>
As of April 7, the number of Salmonella victims sickened in the outbreak linked to DeFusco’s Bakery in Johnston, RI has grown to 64 cases. Twenty-seven of the people sickened were hospitalized. Every person sickened in this outbreak deserves compensation, particularly since DeFusco’s Bakery was so grossly negligent as to put baked pastry shells in boxes that had held raw eggs.
Our Salmonella attorneys have won money for people seriously sickened by Salmonella infections (salmonellosis), including people who developed Reiter’s syndrome, a reactive arthritis. We have also won lawsuits for families who lost loved ones to Salmonella infections and Reiter’s syndrome.
The arthritis associated with Reiter’s syndrome can affect any joint in the body and cause any of the following:
- Enthesopathy - inflammation of the tendon that attaches to the bone
- Heel spurs - bony growths in the heel that cause severe pain
- Spondylitis - inflammation of the spine
- Sacroiliitis – inflammation of the joints of the lower back that connect the spine to the pelvis
- Conjunctivitis – inflammation of the mucous membrane that covers the eyeball and eyelid
- Uveitis – inflammation of the eye.
About 10 percent of people with Reiter’s syndrome, develop heart problems:
- Aortic regurgitation – leakage of blood from the aorta into the heart chamber
- Pericarditis – inflammation of the membrane that covers and protects the heart
For a free consultation with a Salmonella attorney at Pritzker Olsen law firm about a lawsuit against DeFusco’s Bakery in Rhode Island, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form. We are not paid unless we win your case.
DeFusco’s Bakery has locations in Johnston and Cranston, RI. Zeppole pasteries made by at the Johnston location have been linked to this outbreak. Zeppoles and other baked goods that may be contaminated with Salmonella were sold to other bakeries for sale to consumers. The Rhode Island Department of Health has recalled baked goods from DeFusco’s. Click here for the list of retailers selling the potentially contaminated DeFusco’s baked goods. The bakeries were primarily in the Providence, Rhode Island area. Personal injury and wrongful death attorney David Szerlag is licensed to practice in Rhode Island.
First Death with Possible Link to Zeppole Salmonella Outbreak
The Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 43 and hospitalized 22, may have claimed its first life. A Providence county man in his 80s died on March 23rd.
The microbiological link has been confirmed, but the epidemiological evidence has yet to be established. Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) reported, “We have an individual who did die, who is associated with the other people who were ill. We do not have any intersection of those two investigations, yet.”
As of March 29, 2011, this is what we know about the Salmonella outbreak associated with consumption with DeFusco’s zeppoles:
- Of the 43 people sickened with Salmonella-type symptoms, 42 are from Rhode Island and 1 is from Massachusetts.
- 22 people have been hospitalized.
- 22 people were laboratory-confirmed for having the same strain of Salmonella (including the man who died).
- All of those who became sick said they had eaten a zeppole and/or baked goods made at Johnston’s DeFusco’s Bakery. (The one death occurred prior to an interview.)
In this Salmonella outbreak, as in other foodborne illness cases, the microbiological link is confirmed through public health laboratory. Food and environmental samples are also tested.
Microbiological and epidemiological evidence linking the zeppoles to the cases of Salmonella can be used in a zeppole Salmonella lawsuit against the parties responsible for the contamination of the food product and the sale and distribution of the contaminated product. Most Salmonella food poisoning lawsuits seek compensation for victims based on the following legal claims:
- strict liability
- negligence
- breach of warranty
Our law firm is one of very few law firms that represent Salmonella outbreak victims nationwide, and perhaps the only major Salmonella litigation law firm with an attorney, David Szerlag, who is licensed to practice in Rhode Island. Contact our Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation about a DeFusco’s Bakery lawsuit or call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) to speak to an attorney.
Zeppole Salmonella Sickens 11 Nursing Home Residents
On Friday, March 25, 20011, the Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) became aware of a Salmonella outbreak when 11 West Shore Health Center nursing home residents became ill after consuming zeppoles from DeFusco’s Bakery, according to a report by Felice J. Freyer of The Providence Journal. Seven of the nursing home residents were so ill that they required hospitalization.
HEALTH inspectors went to DeFusco’s Bakery where they found that custard for the zeppole pastry was not properly chilled; pastry shells were stored in cardboard boxes where raw eggs had been and a food-safety manager was not on the premises as required. Annemarie Beardsworth, Health Department spokeswoman, reported that DeFusco’s Johnston facility had passed routine inspections in April and December of 2010.
It is disconcerting that a facility that knows food safety guidelines could be so careless as to:
- store baked pastries in boxes that had contained raw eggs
- fail to properly chill buckets of custard — an egg product
This negligence was at the expense of a group of people that were vulnerable and already dealing with health issues. (The West Shore Health Center offers nursing care, subacute care, rehabilitation and Alzheimer’s care.) Their struggle to maintain their quality of life or to recuperate from a serious illness or surgery just got tougher — physically, emotionally and financially.
What was intended as a treat, turned out to be a trick of the worst kind. Liable parties should be held accountable for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages and other harms.
Pritzker Olsen Salmonella attorneys are investigating this outbreak of Salmonella associated with eating zeppoles from DeFusco’s Bakery in Rhode Island. Attorney David Szerlag is part of the Salmonella litigation team at Pritzker Olsen and is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association. He is available for a free consultation. Call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online contact form.
