UPDATE: Schnucks is also voluntarily pulling from the produce departments all Dole salads containing chopped romaine.

Late last night, Schnucks announced Freshway Foods (aka US Foods after its purchase of Freshway in 2016) has issued (can’t find the press release) a recall Friday for a brand of romaine lettuce sold at Schnucks due to E. coli contamination.

In a news release, Schnucks informed its customers that select chopped romaine lettuce sold at their delis and salad bars are linked to multi-state outbreak that has spread to Missouri and Illinois.  Thus far E. coli Illnesses linked to 11 states: Washington, Idaho, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Virginia, Connecticut and New Jersey linked to chopped romaine lettuce from Yuma Arizona.

Schnucks urged its customers check any product from self-service salad bar containing romaine lettuce.

The following items from the salad bar may be affected:

  • Apple Walnut Salad
  • Greek Salad
  • Cobb Salad
  • Tossed Garden Salad

I knew this sounded familiar.

Marler Clark represented victims of a 2010 E. coli O145 outbreak that was traced to contaminated Romaine lettuce sold by Freshway Foods. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 26 confirmed and 7 probable E. coli cases from 5 states were linked to the Freshway Romaine lettuce E. coli O145 outbreak in April and May of 2010. Cases were located in Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Multiple students attending The Ohio State University were part of the E. coli outbreak.During litigation, we learned that during the E. coli outbreak investigation, an unopened bag of Freshway lettuce tested positive for the outbreak strain of E. coli O145, providing powerful evidence that the Freshway Romaine lettuce had experienced a contamination event at some point in the manufacturing process.

As for Schnucks: In October 2011 Missouri health officials linked a spreading E. coli O157:H7 outbreak Schnuckssupermarkets. The early suspected source of the E. coli outbreak was fresh produce served at Schnucks stores in the St. Louis area, but all tests on food samples from Schnucks salad bars returned negative for E. coli contamination. Interviews with E. coli patients did not point to a specific food served at Schnucks that was the source of the outbreak. In total the outbreak sickened 60 people including 30 hospitalizations in 10 states: Arizona (1), Arkansas (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (9), Indiana (2), Kansas (3), Kentucky (1), Minnesota (3), Missouri (37), and Nebraska (1).   However, on December 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report pointing to romaine lettuce from a single producer and distributor as the source of the outbreak. Investigators believe the contamination occurred prior to lettuce entering the Schnucks stores. The report did not name the producer or distributor however, after filing the first lawsuit against Schnucks.  Though our investigation, we learned that the romaine supplier was Vaughan Foods.

We presently represent victims in Idaho, Missouri, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $650 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products.  The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s.  We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera.

If you or a family member became ill with an E. coli infection or HUS after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark E. coli attorneys for a free case evaluation.