A Kentucky woman has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County against JBS Tolleson, a division of JBS USA, stemming from the company’s recall of 6.9 million pounds of ground beef that was recalled due to Salmonella. JBS announced the recall on Oct. 4 and the suit was filed Oct. 5.
The complaint says Dana Raab bought the JBS-produced ground beef from Sam’s Club in September and made meatloaf with some of it before freezing the rest. She later fell ill, tested positive for Salmonella Newport, and was hospitalized for five days due to severe dehydration and a blocked bile duct, according to the complaint.
To date, eight case-patients have provided receipts or shopper card numbers, which have enabled product traceback investigations. USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and state public health and agriculture partners have now determined that raw ground beef was the probable source of the reported illnesses.
Traceback has identified JBS as the common supplier of the ground beef products. The epidemiological investigation has identified 57 case-patients from 16 states with illness onset dates ranging from Aug. 5 to Sept. 6, 2018. FSIS will continue to work with public health partners and will provide updated information should it become available.
