With the announcement of a small Salmonella outbreak at a Minnesota Denny’s, it is a good time to look at Salmonella again.  Salmonella is one of the most common intestinal infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common foodborne illness.

It is estimated that:

  • 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur each year in the U.S.
  • 95% of those cases are foodborne-related
  • Approximately 220 of each 1000 cases result in hospitalization and eight of every 1000 cases result in death
  • About 500 to 1,000 or 31% of all food-related deaths are caused by Salmonella infections each year.

Salmonella infection occurs when the bacteria are ingested, typically from food derived from infected food-animals, but it can also occur by ingesting the feces of an infected animal or person. Food sources include raw or undercooked eggs/egg products, raw milk or raw milk products, contaminated water, meat and meat products, and poultry. Raw fruits and vegetables contaminated during slicing have been implicated in several salmonella outbreaks.  Here are a few with Minnesota connections:

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 $600 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.