It’s time for the Top 10 Multistate Food Poisoning Outbreaks of 2021! This year has been much different from 2020, when there were exactly ten outbreaks. We had quite a choice this year, and we also want to emphasize a few outbreaks that didn’t make the list. Number ten is the Josie’s Organics baby spinach E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. One outbreak will be posted every weekday until we reach 12/31/21.
For instance, the El Abuelito soft cheese Listeria monocytogenes outbreak sickened 13 people and killed one person; all of the patients were hospitalized. And four of the patients were pregnant. Two women suffered pregnancy loss and there was one premature birth. That outbreak was quite serious and deems mention even if it didn’t make the top 10.
The Pure Eire yogurt E. coli outbreak was technically confined to Washington state, because the three patients who lived in Arizona were considered secondary infections. Four patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome; ten patients, or 59%, were hospitalized.
And the cake mix E. coli outbreak, which sickened 16 people, was never solved. But it is a good reminder to never eat raw cookie dough or cake batter that is made with uncooked flour or cake mix because flour is a raw agricultural product.
The Josie’s Organics baby spinach E. coli O157:H7 outbreak has sickened at least 14 people in nine states, and it is not been declared over by the CDC. Three people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and four people have been hospitalized.
The patient case count is: Indiana (4), Iowa (1), Michigan (1), Minnesota (2), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), Ohio (1), Pennsylvania (1), and South Dakota (2). Patients range in age from two to 76. Illness onset dates range from October 13, 2021 to October 27, 2021.
Officials in Minnesota found E. coli O157:H7 in a package of leftover Josie’s Organics baby spinach that was taken from a patient’s home. Whole genome sequencing found that the pathogen in the spinach is closely related to bacteria taken from sick people, which means that people likely got sick from eating that spinach.
The CDC is advising people not to eat, sell, or serve Josie’s Organics prepackaged baby spinach with the “best by” date of October 23, 2021. If you ate that product and have been ill with the symptoms of E. coli, which include severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea that is bloody, or HUS, which include little urine output and lethargy, see your doctor.
If you or a loved one have been sickened with an E. coli infection or HUS after eating Josie’s Organics baby spinach, please contact our experienced attorneys for help at 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
Where’s the rest of the list?
One is posted every day until the end of the year.