Minnesota-based Pritzker Hageman Law Firm has filed the first lawsuit related to a salmonella outbreak hitting North America. The source of the outbreak was contaminated cantaloupe that was traced back to Malichita and Rudy brand cantaloupes imported from Mexico. Several other victims of the outbreak are also seeking the representation of national food safety law firm, Ron Simon & Associates.

Along with the Malichita and Rudy brands, the contaminated cantaloupes were also sold under other names throughout national chains including Walmart, Sam's Club, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Aldi, and Sprouts. The affected melons include both whole and pre-cut cantaloupe.

The outbreak is responsible for at least three deaths in the US, two of which happened in Minnesota, and five others in Canada. The FDA has also reported at least 230 cases of illnesses with victims requiring hospitalization across 38 states. A number of the cases reported have been for victims in long-term care facilities and child care centers.

Food and drink containing Salmonella bacteria can cause serious and even life-threatening infections. Young children, the elderly, and individuals with weakened immune systems are especially vulnerable to the severe symptoms of salmonella infection. Common symptoms can include nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, and fever. In severe cases, the bacteria can get into the bloodstream and cause more severe illnesses.

The Pritzker Hageman Law Firm is representing a Florida family whose 13-month-old contracted the infection after eating tainted cantaloupe in a fruit platter that was purchased from a Sam's Club warehouse. According to the lawsuit, the child’s salmonella infection forced him to spend several days in the hospital suffering debilitating pain. The child would go on to “develop a fever, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea among other symptoms."

The lawsuit aims to hold accountable the food distribution company that allowed so many victims to become infected. “Parents should never have to worry if the food they buy for their children is safe,” said Pritzker Hageman attorney Ray Trueblood. “We put our trust in food companies to produce safe food that won't make us sick. It’s a parent's worst nightmare to see their child suffer in the hospital because a food company failed to follow basic food safety procedures.”

The lawsuit accuses the produce company Trufresh of “failing to prevent fecal matter and other contaminants from coming into contact with the cantaloupe and other food products." The lawsuit is seeking to have the produce company pay to cover the child's treatment costs and other expenses.

"I hope that anyone out there that has been affected doesn't just turn a blind eye," Trueblood continues. "Because if they do, the results are that this company has gotten a slap on the wrist and they don't have any real incentive to clean up their act."

Turefresh has since announced that they were recalling all of their fresh and packaged cantaloupe that is labeled with the “Malichita” tag.

This lawsuit is not expected to be the last, and it comes after a similar landmark California case not so very long ago. In 2018, the Pritzker Hageman Law Firm represented the family of a five-year-old boy who contracted salmonella and suffered brain damage.

In that case, the law firm sued Foster Poultry Farms (Foster Farms) and won a $6.5 million verdict. This landmark salmonella lawsuit established that chicken producers can also be held responsible for salmonella contamination on raw chicken products despite the FDA not considering salmonella a per se “adulterant” in raw chicken and the bacteria’s susceptibility to death when cooked at high temperatures. The verdict was successful despite the defendants arguing that salmonella is “natural” to raw chicken and therefore should not form the basis of liability.

Following the Minnesota lawsuit, Canadian firm Slater Vecchio LLP has filed its own class action lawsuit on behalf of consumers in Quebec who purchased the fruit or consumed and got sick because of contaminated cantaloupes that are under Health Canada’s current recall list.