Smiling Hara Tempeh Recalled in Asheville NC: Connection to Salmonella Paratyphi B Outbreak?
Attorney Fred Pritzker 
Smiling Hara Tempeh of Asheville, North Carolina, is voluntarily recalling 12-ounce packages of unpasteurized soybean tempeh because of possible contamination with Salmonella. Our Salmonella attorneys are available for a free consultation regarding a recall lawsuit.
Salmonella was detected in the tempeh during a recent, routine inspection. Additional tests will be conducted by the North Carolina Division of Public Health to determine whether the Salmonella in the tempeh matches the strain of Salmonella paratyphi B found in an outbreak that has sickened at least 37 people. The outbreak is centered in Asheville and greater Buncome County and includes people outside the state who visited Buncombe County.
Smiling Hara Tempeh (pronounced Tem-pay) is recalling tempeh manufactured this year between January 11 and April 11. The containers are marked with a best-by date of 7/11/12 through 10/25/12. Tempeh is used as a meat substitute in vegetarian cuisine. It consists of beans cultured into a cake form using distilled vinegar. The company’s website notes that the product is raw and intended to be cooked.
Smiling Hara tempeh is distributed to the following restaurants and retailers, according to the company’s website:
- Rosetta’s Kitchen, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Laughing Seed Cafe, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Greenlife Grocery(in the freezer and ready to eat in the deli!), Asheville, NC
- Heiwa Shokudu Japanese Restaurant, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Firestorm Cafe, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Westville Pub, West Asheville, NC
- Westvillage Market (in deli and in the freezer), West Asheville, NC
- Green Sage, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Green Sage, South Asheville, NC (Hendersonville Rd)
- Neo Burrito, West Asheville, NC
- Neo Burrito, Biltmore Park, NC
- Pineapple Jack’s, West Asheville, NC
- Luella’s BBQ, Asheville NC
- Lucky Otter, West Asheville, NC
- Vegin Out, Asheville, NC
- Homegrown, Asheville, NC
- Earthfare, West Asheville, NC(in the freezer)
- Earthfare, South Asheville, NC(in the freezer)
- French Broad Food Coop,(in the freezer) Downtown Asheville, NC
- Overeasy cafe, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Morning Glory Cafe, Black Mountain, NC
- Zen Sushi, North Asheville, NC
- Amazing Savings(in the freezer!), Downtown, NC
- Amazing Savings(in the freezer!), Sweeten Creek Rd, NC
- Amazing Savings(in the freezer!), Black Mountain, NC
- Plant, North Asheville, NC
- Green Light Cafe, Downtown Asheville, NC
- Veg Head Drive Thru, North Asheville, NC
- City Bakery, Asheville, NC
- Black Mountain Natural Foods, Black Mountain, NC(in the freezer)
- Tod’s Tasties (Montford) Asheville, NC
- Mountain Magnolia Inn, Hot Springs NC
- Veggie Love Food Truck!, Asheville, NC
- WALK, West Asheville, NC
“We strongly encourage individuals to follow the recall guidelines to protect their health and the health of their families,” State Epidemiologist Dr. Megan Davies said. “We do not know yet if this is the same strain of Salmonella that is causing the current outbreak. ”
In Asheville, Smiling Hara is one of 20 small, local food companies that rents time and industrial kitchen space at Blue Ridge Food Ventures, the company said in a statement. “Each of these businesses is its own legal entity and operates independent of Blue Ridge Food Ventures. Each business is inspected by the regulatory agency relevant to its product and has its own food production and safety plans.”
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is accepting clients from this outbreak for an Asheville Salmonella lawsuit. Salmonella paratyphi B infections cause Paratyphoid Fever, a condition marked by escalating fever, diarrhea, sluggishness, severe headache and, in some cases, rosy spots on the upper torso or an unproductive cough. In some cases, people may need to be hospitalized.
Our firm is one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected millions for victims of food poisoning outbreaks. If you or a loved one has been sickened in the Buncombe County Salmonella Paratyphi B outbreak, call our firm for a free case consultation at 1-888-377-8900 or send your contact information online and a lawyer will call you back.
Second Salmonella Bacteria Found in Raw Tuna Scrape
Fred Pritzker
Public health officials have discovered a second type of Salmonella bacteria in the recalled raw tuna scrape that has sickened at least 200 people and hospitalized 28 in 21 states and the District of Columbia. The announcement was made in the April 26, 2012 update by the CDC.
The recalled raw tuna, called Nakaochi Scrape, was imported from India by Moon Marine USA Corporation. The multi-state outbreak caused by Salmonella Bareilly, which was found in patient’s stool samples and in the tuna, has been the focus of the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention since early April.
But there was another, much smaller outbreak occurring at the same time. Ten people in five states were sickened by the same strain of Salmonella Nchanga, a serotype of the bacteria that is extremely rare in the United States.
Good old detective work solved this case. Public health officials interviewed the patients. Of the five people they talked to, all had eaten sushi the week before becoming ill. Since only 5% of the population eats sushi on a regular basis, that product was immediately suspect.
Investigators tested the sample of Moon Marine USA Corporation’s raw tuna scrape and found Salmonella Nchanga. And pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), which is the process used to “fingerprint” bacteria’s DNA, yielded a match with the bacteria that sickened the patients.
The two investigations are now going to be combined into one. The epidemiological curve (epi curve) of the investigation has changed, with more cases now expected. The update, released April 26, 2012, most likely does not include anyone sickened after March 27, 2012.
According to the epi curve, investigators estimate that there will be at least 56 more lab-confirmed cases of Salmonella Bareilly and Salmonella Nchanga infections before this outbreak ends.
This raw yellowfin tuna product, used to make spicy tuna rolls and other types of sushi, may still be in grocery store and restaurant freezers. If you choose to eat this product, ask the proprietors about its origin to make sure it’s not part of this recall.
If you do suffer the symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning, see your doctor. Then call me and my experienced Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation to protect your legal rights. These cases can be complicated, so you need attorneys who understand food safety law and food poisoning cases to make sure you are fully and fairly compensated.
Contact us using our web form, or call toll free 1-800-377-8900.
Raw Sushi Tuna Recall Prompts Calls for Release of Food Safety Rules
Fred Pritzker
The outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly food poisoning linked to the raw sushi tuna called Nakaochi Scrape and subsequent recall has prompted a United States Senator and several consumer groups to call on the Office of Management and Budget to release stalled food safety rules.
Contact Fred about a sushi tuna recall lawsuit: 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).
The corporation that imported the tuna, Moon Marine USA Corporation, recalled the product last week. The raw tuna was imported from India.
On April 18, 2012, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) asked the White House Office of Management and Budget to release food safety rules that have been delayed. The rules are part of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, and were scheduled for release on January 4, 2012.
One of the delayed rules specified guidance on the safety of imported foods. The press release from the Senator’s office said, “new sets of rules for produce and imported foods such as seafood were supposed to be made public months ago. Rules covering how small food processors should keep food clean and uncontaminated are also pending. OMB must take seriously its responsibility to promptly review the rules in order to improve food safety and allow FDA to direct its attention toward this issue in order to ensure that the American food supply is safe.”
Consumers Union, the advocacy branch of Consumer Reports magazine, also requested the safety rules release. In a statement, they said, “for the last five months, since December 2011, these critical regulations have remained under review at OMB.”
The raw scraped tuna was broken into smaller lots and shipped to grocery stores and restaurants around the country. It was used to make spicy tuna rolls, other types of sushi, and sashimi. The outbreak has sickened at least 141 people in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
If you or a member or your family was sickened after eating sushi made with raw tuna, contact Pritzker Olsen Attorneys to learn how we can protect your legal rights. Lawsuits may be filed against Moon Marine USA Corporation, restaurants, grocery stores, and others. Fill out our online contact form or call our toll free number 1-888-377-8900.
The effects of Salmonella food poisoning can extend long past the actual acute illness. Some victims can develop Reiter’s syndrome, which causes reactive arthritis, sepsis, and other serious complications that can have lifelong effects.
Every person affected by this contaminated product should be fully and fairly compensated. Contact us for a free consultation.
Raw Tuna Sushi Recall Lawsuit: Salmonella Case Count Grows
Attorney Fred Pritzker
The Salmonella Bareilly outbreak caused by raw tuna sushi has grown. Now 141 people are ill and 21 people hospitalized. The additional cases are in Connecticut (1), Georgia (1), Illinois (3), Louisiana (1), Maryland (3), Massachusetts (1), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), New Jersey (1), New York (4), Pennsylvania (1), Virginia (3), Texas (1), and Wisconsin (2).
The frozen chopped raw tuna called Nakaochi Scrape, imported by Moon Marine USA Corporation in California, was shipped across the country and broken into smaller lots that were not labeled. That is making the process of identifying and recalling the product much more difficult.
Contact Fred for a free Salmonella case review.The government believes that more people have been sickened in this outbreak but their cases have not yet been reported. In fact, people sickened after March 20, 2012 are most likely not included in the total count. Many more people contracted food poisoning from this product and were not admitted to the hospital. They suffered severe pain and terrible symptoms from this contaminated product.
If you ate spicy tuna rolls, sushi, or any type of raw tuna in the past several months and became ill, please contact us for a free consultation. Our experienced Salmonella attorneys can help protect your legal rights.
Tuna Sushi Recall Lawsuit: National Salmonella Attorney Investigating Outbreak in IL, WI, NY, NJ, GA, LA and Other States
Fred Pritzker
After weeks of investigation, the source of the Salmonella Bareilly outbreak has been found: contaminated raw yellowfin tuna used in sushi and other products. The raw tuna was scraped off of fish bones, which is most likely when the tuna became contaminated with the Salmonella Bareilly bacteria that sickened people in 20 states and Washington DC.
I and my team of Salmonella lawyers have been contacted by victims of this outbreak and are investigating a lawsuit against all potentially liable parties, including Moon Marine USA Corporation (also known as MMI) of Cupertino, California, the importer of the scraped sushi tuna. Moon Marine issued a sushi tuna recall on April 13, 2012 involving 58,828 lbs of a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, labeled as Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA.
Contact Fred for a free Salmonella case review.To date, the CDC has confirmed 116 cases, but we know there are more. Here are the states and numbers provided by the CDC:
Alabama (2), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (5), District of Columbia (2), Florida (1), Georgia (5), Illinois (10), Louisiana (2), Maryland (11), Massachusetts (8), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), New Jersey (7), New York (24), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (5), Rhode Island (5), South Carolina (3), Texas (3), Virginia (5), and Wisconsin (12).
There have been at least 14 hospitalizations: IL (3), WI (3), GA (2), LA (2), NJ (2), NY (1) and DC (1). This number does not include the many people who went to emergency rooms with severe pain and other Salmonella symptoms and were not admitted to the hospital. Every Salmonella victim has the legal right to seek compensation from all liable parties. This means that every victim can bring suit against the importer, Moon Marine, any other distributors and a restaurant or grocery store. Our Salmonella litigation team will need to look at the facts of your case to determine who to sue. You can contact our national Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation here.
FDA Tuna Sushi Recall Announcement
Below is information from the FDA tuna sushi recall announcement:
Moon Marine USA Corporation (also known as MMI) of Cupertino, Calif. is voluntarily recalling 58,828 lbs of a frozen raw yellowfin tuna product, labeled as Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA. Nakaochi Scrape is tuna backmeat, which is specifically scraped off from the bones, and looks like a ground product.
The Nakaochi Scrape is associated with an outbreak of 116 cases of Salmonella Bareilly in multiple states: Alabama (2), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (5), District of Columbia (2), Florida (1), Georgia (5), Illinois (10), Louisiana (2), Maryland (11), Massachusetts (8), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), New Jersey (7), New York (24), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (5), Rhode Island (5), South Carolina (3), Texas (3), Virginia (5), and Wisconsin (12).
The raw yellowfin tuna product may have passed through several distributors before reaching the restaurant and grocery market, and may not be marked with lot information. Distributors and end users should consult their suppliers to determine the origin of any Nakaochi Scrape AA or AAA in their possession.
Join other victims of this outbreak who want justice and compensation for their injuries. Contact me for a free consultation. If you hire my law firm, you will not pay us a fee unless we win your case.
