The Costco E. coli outbreak has sent five people to the hospital, including two who have developed a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, according to the CDC.
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San Joaquin Valley-based Taylor Farms Pacific Inc, fresh-cut vegetables and bagged salads producer, said, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are recalling more than 154,000 lots of numerous products from various grocery store chains in 17 states, majority in the West”.
William Marler, a Seattle attorney who specializes in victims of food poisoning, says Costco has a relatively good reputation for food safety when compared with other companies. The illnesses were subsequently linked to chicken salad bought at Costco Wholesale.
Additional test are required on the vegetables to confirm that they had the same E. coli strain associated with the outburst, which affected 19 people.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a bacterium that causes a diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. The retailer has a single supplier of the vegetables it uses in its chicken salads sold throughout at all USA stores.
Out of the 19 people, five have been hospitalized.
Earlier in the week, Costco took action on the reports of an E. coli outbreak caused by its rotisserie chicken salad by pulling the item off all of its store shelves. Chipotle voluntarily closed 43 restaurants in Washington and OR and reopened them after deep cleaning and ordering new ingredients.
“I think we’re going to learn something important from both ultimately”, he said.
Symptoms of HUS usually set in on the eighth day of an E. coli infection. The incubation period is three to seven days from the time of exposure.
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If you’ve eaten some and start to feel sick, make sure you call your doctor.
