Lawsuit Filed Against Wegmans Over Pine Nut Salmonella Outbreak

MINNEAPOLISA lawsuit has been filed on behalf of a victim of the multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to Turkish pine nuts sold at grocery stores operated by Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., and distributed by Sunrise Commodities, of Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The plaintiff was one of at least 42 people in six states who contracted a Salmonella infection after eating the pine nuts.

PritzkerOlsen filed the lawsuit against Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities in the New York State Supreme Court in Monroe County. In September 2011, the plaintiff purchased pine nuts at Wegmans and made basil pesto with them. After eating the pesto, she began to suffer weakness, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. Her condition worsened, and she was later admitted to the hospital.

After laboratory testing linked the illnesses to pine nuts sold in bulk bins at Wegmans grocery stores, the company issued a recall of 5,000 pounds of Turkish pine nuts sold at 78 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland between July 1 and Oct.18, 2011. FDA confirmed that Salmonella matching the outbreak strain was present on samples of Turkish pine nuts taken from a warehouse used by Sunrise Commodities. The recall was then expanded to include pine nuts that had been distributed to food vendors in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Canada.

This outbreak was caused by a breakdown in the food safety systems designed to protect consumers,"  said food safety attorney Fred Pritzker. After-the-fact testing conclusively proved that the Turkish pine nuts were adulterated with Salmonella Enteritidis. Had these companies properly tested the product in the first place, this outbreak would not have occurred."