Dan Flynn of Food Safety News online is reporting that Illinois resident Raymond Cirimele has become the latest individual to bring a lawsuit against Daniele Inc., Wholesome Spice and Seasonings, and Mincing Overseas Spice Company.
Last November, Cirimele purchased Italian-style salami products from a Costco in Cook County, Illinois. The salami was coated with pepper and contained Salmonella Montevideo. After eating the salami, Cirimele fell ill with gastrointestinal pains, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and fever. This illness kept Cirimele in and out of the doctor’s office for roughly a month before it was eventually cleared up by the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin.
The lawsuit against Daniele Inc. and its two pepper suppliers was filed in Cook County Circuit Court. According to Flynn, Cirimele is seeking unspecified damages on three counts: strict product liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. Marler Clark, the food safety law firm that publishes Food Safety News, is representing Cirimele in the case along with local attorney Gary Newland of the firm Newland, Newland, & Newland.
The Chicago Sun-Times blog reports that a family from Illinois also filed a suit against Daniele Inc. on January 26, 2010. That suit alleges the salami in questioned caused a 3-month-old boy who ate the salami to fall ill.
Food Safety News reports that the salami salmonella outbreak started in July, 2009, but it “does not appear to be over.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 217 illnesses from this salmonella outbreak.
Daniele Inc. began a voluntary recall, as per current USDA policy, of several ready-to-eat meat products on January 23, 2010. The recall now involves about 1.3 million pounds of product. The Vietnam Pepper Association denies any liability and claims any problems to their peppers must have occurred during processing in the U.S.
To read the Food Safety News story, click here.
To read the Chicago Sun-Times blog post on the lawsuit, click here.
For those interested in learning more about the laws involving food safety, click here to visit the National Agricultural Law Center's reading room on the issue.
Posted: 02/12/10
