Chicken Livers Salmonella in New York and New Jersey: CDC Update and Lawsuit Information

Posted by Salmonella Attorney on Nov 10, 2011 in Outbreak, Salmonella News

Our attorneys are investigating a lawsuit involving a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections linked to a kosher chicken liver product labeled as “kosher broiled chicken livers,” which is not ready-to-eat and requires further cooking before eating. CDC confirmed cases only include Salmonella victims from New York and New Jersey, but we have reason to believe that Salmonella cases from other states (Maryland, Pennsylvania and others) will be included by the CDC as part of this outbreak.

Public health investigators are using DNA “fingerprints” of Salmonella bacteria obtained through diagnostic testing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to identify cases of illness that may be part of this outbreak. They are using data from PulseNet, the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories that performs molecular surveillance of foodborne infections.

From April 1 to November 4, 2011, a total of 157 illnesses were reported to the CDC in New York (93 cases) and New Jersey (64 cases). Among persons for whom information is available in New York and New Jersey, illnesses began on or after March 13, 2011. Ill persons range in age from <1 to 97 years with a median age of 10 years. Fifty-two percent are female. Among the 125 ill persons with available information, 21 (17%) have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported; however, our Salmonella attorneys have represented families in Salmonella wrongful death cases where the time of death was well after the initial symptoms of Salmonella poisoning.

Evidence for Lawsuit Seeking Victim Compensation

Epidemiologic and laboratory investigations conducted by officials in local, state, and federal public health, agriculture, and regulatory agencies linked this outbreak to eating “kosher broiled chicken livers” from Schreiber Processing Corporation (doing business as Alle Processing Corporation/MealMart Company), and chopped chicken liver prepared from this product. This means that victims of this Salmonella outbreak have claims against Schreiber Processing Corporation (doing business as Alle Processing Corporation/MealMart Company) and possibly a retailer, restaurant or deli that undercooked the chicken livers.

Legal actions in these cases generally seek compensation based on the following:

• Strict liability
• Negligence
• Breech of contract.

There is ample evidence on which to sue Schreiber Processing Corporation (doing business as Alle Processing Corporation/MealMart Company) and others:

Negligence: These “kosher broiled chicken livers” are sold at retail stores and may be used as an ingredient in other prepared foods. These products appear to be ready-to-eat, but are in fact partially cooked, and therefore need to be fully cooked before eating.  Consumers may have incorrectly thought the use of the word “broiled” in the label meant the chicken liver was ready-to-eat; however, these chicken livers must be fully cooked before eating.

Epidemiological Evidence: Among 30 ill persons for whom information is available, 22 (73%) reported consuming chicken liver products in the week before their illness began.

Microbiological Evidence (The “Smoking Gun”): Laboratory testing conducted by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Laboratory Division identified the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg in samples of “kosher broiled chicken livers” and chopped liver products obtained from retail stores that had been processed by Schreiber Processing Corporation (doing business as Alle Processing Corporation/MealMart Company).

Contact our Salmonella lawyers for a free consultation.

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