Today, Lynne Terry of the Oregonian reports that a restaurant in Ashland, just blocks from the hub of the Shakespeare Festival, served food that could have been contaminated with hepatitis A as recently as this past Wednesday.  Oregon health officials said Evo’s Coffee Lounge was using Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend in its Radically Free smoothie, potentially contaminating customers.  “They were still using the product when the FDA called them on Wednesday,” said William Keene, senior epidemiologist with the Oregon Public Health Division. “So people may have been exposed as recently as this past week.”  Hepatitis A vaccines are recommended and offered by local health departments.

For those consumers like Evo’s Coffee Lounge, who appear not to have heard (or paid attention to) the recall, the product continues to potentially spread its nasty cargo.  This is especially true for a product like Townsend’s frozen berries that can slip into the back of the freezer only to be ready to unload another round of hepatitis A illnesses later.

Hepatitis A:  Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of Hepatitis A outbreaks. The Hepatitis A lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Hepatitis A 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 Hepatitis A lawyers have litigated Hepatitis A cases stemming from outbreaks traced to a variety of sources, such as green onions, lettuce and restaurant food.  The law firm has brought Hepatitis A lawsuits against such companies as Subway, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Quiznos, Chi-Chi’s and Carl’s Jr.

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