MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The first lawsuit against Barber Foods for Salmonella food poisoning from the company’s frozen, breaded Chicken Kiev product has been filed by PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a national food safety law firm. PritzkerOlsen attorneys Elliot Olsen and Ryan Osterholm filed the suit today, July 16, 2015, in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota (Case 0:15-cv-03074).
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Elmo Lake, Minnesota, man (Plaintiff) and his wife against Barber Foods, LLC, a Maine company.
“The manufacturers of Chicken Kiev and other similar frozen chicken products are in denial about how dangerous their products can be,” said attorney Osterholm. “This is not the first outbreak linked to these products and won’t be the last unless the industry makes real changes.”
In late March, 2015, Plaintiff’s parents purchased a box of Barber Foods frozen Chicken Kiev products at Sam's Club in Woodbury, Minnesota. In early April, 2015, Plaintiff, his parents and his wife cooked and consumed numerous Barber Foods Chicken Kiev products. They followed the cooking time and oven temperature as directed on the box.
Soon after consuming the Chicken Kiev product, Plaintiff began suffering severe gastroenteritis, which included diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever, chills and headache, all symptoms of Salmonella poisoning. After several medical visits over the next several weeks, he tested positive for Salmonella.
The Minnesota Department of Health performed further testing on the Salmonella sample obtained from Plaintiff. His sample was positive for Salmonella Enteritidis, and genetic testing determined he had contracted the same genetic strain associated with an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to Barber Foods Chicken Kiev.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) made the connection between the illnesses and the chicken with epidemiologic and traceback evidence. To date, there are 6 laboratory-confirmed cases, 5 in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin. The illness onset dates range from April 5, 2015 to June 23, 2015.
“Salmonella is spread to chicken by contamination of meat with fecal matter. That should not happen. Period,” said Osterholm.
On July 2, 2015, Barber Foods issued a recall of 58,320 pounds of frozen, raw, stuffed chicken Kiev produced on January 29, 2015; February 20, 2015; and April 23, 2015. On July 12, 2015, Barber Foods expanded its recall to 1,707,494 pounds of frozen, raw stuffed chicken products. The full list of products can be found on the USDA-FSIS website.
PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is a national food safety law firm that represents people sickened in foodborne outbreaks throughout the United States. Attorneys Elliot Olsen and Ryan Osterholm have won millions for their clients in lawsuits against food companies, retailers, restaurants and others. Mr. Olsen and Mr. Osterholm can be reached at 612-338-0202 or via the firm’s website, www.pritzkerlaw.com. The firm’s offices are located at 45 South 7th Street, Suite 2950, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.
