States impacted : Washington, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware.

This outbreak appears to be over.

As of February 14, 2020, a total of 165 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Javiana were reported from 14 states. Illnesses were reported from states where Tailor Cut Produce distributed cut fruit, including Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Most ill people from the other 10 states reported traveling to at least one of these 4 states in the week before their illness started..

Illnesses started on dates ranging from November 7, 2019 to January 11, 2020. Ill people ranged in age from less than 1 to 92 years, with a median age of 44. Fifty-three percent of ill people were female. Of 111 ill people with information available, 73 were hospitalized. No deaths were reported.

Epidemiologic and traceback evidence indicated that cut fruit, including honeydew melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, and grapes produced by Tailor Cut Produce of North Brunswick, New Jersey, was a likely source of this outbreak.

State and local public health officials interviewed ill people to determine what they ate and other exposures in the week before their illness started. Fifty-eight (94%) of 62 ill people reported eating cut fruit. Most ill people reported eating cut fruit served in long-term care facilities, hospitals, hotels, or schools. Several ill people reported purchasing cut fruit from multiple locations of a grocery store chain.

State health officials collected records from the locations where ill people ate or purchased the cut fruit and determined that these locations served or sold cut fruit from Tailor Cut Produce. On December 7, 2019, Tailor Cut Produce recalled its Fruit Luau cut fruit mix and cut honeydew melon, cut cantaloupe, and cut pineapple.

FDA’s investigational activities including an inspection of the Tailor Cut Produce facility in New Jersey, are complete. FDA worked with CDC and state partners to trace back the cut fruit and learn more about the potential routes of contamination. Tailor Cut Produce was identified as the common processor, but the source of the contamination was not identified.

Salmonella:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Salmonella outbreaks. The Salmonella lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Salmonella and other foodborne illness outbreaks and have recovered over $700 million for clients.  Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our Salmonella lawyers have litigated Salmonella cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of foods, such as cantaloupe, tomatoes, ground turkey, salami, sprouts, cereal, peanut butter, and food served in restaurants.  The law firm has brought Salmonella lawsuits against such companies as Cargill, ConAgra, Peanut Corporation of America, Sheetz, Taco Bell, Subway and Wal-Mart.

If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection, including Reactive Arthritis or Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation.

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