The number 8 food poisoning outbreak of 2017 was the Salmonella outbreak associated with two Burger King restaurants in Bemidji, Minnesota. At least 27 people were sickened in this outbreak. Four more probable cases are pending.
Both restaurants closed voluntarily on November 30, 2017. Most people got sick in September, but when two more people were diagnosed with Salmonella infections in late November, the restaurants closed.
Interventions were put into place after the outbreak was first identified in September. The public was only notified about this outbreak in early December. Officials think that the outbreak is linked to ill employees who were working while sick.
This outbreak highlights the issue of restaurant managers letting employees work while they are ill, especially with diarrheal illnesses. A study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2016 found that the most common causes of outbreaks in restaurants were infected food workers, and food workers touching food with their bare hands.
The symptoms of salmonellosis include nausea, diarrhea that may be bloody, a fever, and vomiting. Most people get sick within 12 to 72 hours after they have been exposed to this bacteria. If you ate at a Burger King restaurant in Bemidji this fall and have experienced these symptoms, see your doctor.
Pritzker Hageman, America’s food safety law firm, successfully represents people harmed by adulterated food products in outbreaks throughout the United States. Its lawyers have won hundreds of millions of dollars for survivors of foodborne illness, including the largest verdict in American history for a person harmed by E. coli bacteria and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The firm also publishes the E-news site, Food Poisoning Bulletin, a respected source for food safety news and information. Pritzker Hageman lawyers are regularly interviewed by major news outlets including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN. In addition, the firm represents people harmed by pathogenic microorganisms in Legionnaires‘ disease, surgical site infection and product liability cases.
