Wegmans Pine Nuts Salmonella Outbreak Hits New York the Hardest
New Yorkers account for almost two thirds of the total number of victims in the pine nuts Salmonella outbreak linked to Turkish pine nuts sold in bulk at Wegmans stores. Of the 42 people who contracted salmonellosis, 27 are from New York, according the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Our law firm is representing an outbreak victim from New York who was hospitalized with serious Salmonella symptoms. Contact our law firm for a free consultation with Ryan Osterholm, our managing attorney for these cases.
The Wegmans pine nut Salmonella outbreak includes victims from four other states. Maryland (1), New Jersey (2), New York (27), Pennsylvania (8), and Virginia (4). The victims range in age from less than 1 to 94 years old, putting the median age at 43. Sixty percent of victims are female. So far, two people have required hospitalization. No deaths have been reported.
The CDC cautions that case numbers may actually be larger than the 42 reported thus far, as illnesses that occurred after October 6, 2011, might not be reported yet, due to the lag in reporting time.
Public health investigators are using DNA “fingerprints” of the Salmonella bacteria to identify cases of illness that may be part of this outbreak, which began on or after August 20, 2011.
The outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis has been isolated in Turkish pine nuts found at the following locations:
- bulk bins at Wegmans stores in New York and Pennsylvania
- an ill person’s home in Pennsylvania (purchased at Wegmans)
- three ill persons’ homes in New York (purchased at Wegmans, and in two homes used for pesto).
This is solid, “smoking gun” microbiological evidence that the source of the outbreak is Turkish pine nuts sold at Wegmans and distributed by Sunrise Commodities, based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Wegmans Turkish pine nuts distributor. This means that victims of the outbreak have claims against Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities. Contact our Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation regarding a lawsuit against these companies.
In response to this outbreak, Rochester, New York-based Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. has recalled approximately 5,000 lbs of Turkish pine nuts sold in the bulk foods departments of most of its stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland between July 1 and October 18, 2011.
Salmonellosis symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts four to seven days and most people recover without treatment. However, in some cases, the symptoms may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. If it spreads to the intestines or bloodstream a Salmonella infection can be serious and sometimes, fatal. Older adults, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are most susceptible to likely Salmonella infection. Anyone who has these symptoms should seek medical attention.
Contact our Salmonella attorneys for a free consultation regarding lawsuits against Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities and for class action lawsuit information.
Pine Nuts Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities
Turkish pine nuts distributed by Sunrise Commodities, based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and sold by Wegmans grocery stores have been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis. To date, the CDC reports there are at least 42 illnesses associated with the outbreak in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Our law firm is representing a woman from New York sickened in this outbreak. Contact our Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation regarding a lawsuit against Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities.
As part of the outbreak investigation, the FDA collected samples of Turkish pine nuts from a warehouse used by Sunrise Commodities. Additional testing is underway on FDA’s Salmonella positive samples of pine nuts to determine if the Salmonella detected matches the outbreak strain. FDA’s State partners also collected samples of pine nuts distributed by Sunrise Commodities; some of those samples tested positive for Salmonella and matched the outbreak strain.
Sunrise Commodities has voluntarily recalled four lots of the implicated product, totaling more than 21,000 pounds of pine nuts. Each lot was packed in 22-pound boxes and included the markings:
- Warehouse Lot 27963 with the identifying code “PO#: 50165”
- Warehouse Lot 29628 with the identifying code “PO#: 50558”
- Warehouse Lot 27713 with the identifying code “PO#: 49595”
- Warehouse Lot 27427 with the identifying code “PO#: 50032”
Sunrise Commodities distributed the Turkish pine nuts in bulk to various food vendors in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Canada. Sunrise Commodities issued a recall notification to its customers dated November 3, 2011, alerting them of the test results and of the epidemiologic investigation and asking them to notify their subsequent customers of the recall.
Wegmans Food Markets1, one of the companies that received Turkish pine nuts distributed by Sunrise Commodities, recalled the product from their stores on October 26, 2011. As the investigation continues, additional recalls may take place.
