A law firm is planning to file lawsuits against Tropical Smoothie Café on behalf of several people who are sick, as well as about a dozen who have received vaccines, in connection with an outbreak of hepatitis A in Virginia.
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“Individuals who consumed a smoothie from a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Virginia that contained frozen strawberries, on August 5, 6, 7 or 8 may still benefit from vaccine or immune globulin to prevent hepatitis A. Vaccine or immune globulin administered within two weeks of exposure to Hepatitis A virus is effective at preventing the disease”, according to the state’s Aug. 19 warning.
After being notified by the Virginia Department of Health, the smoothie chain voluntarily pulled all of its strawberries sourced from Egypt and said most of their strawberries are primarily imported from Mexico and California.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports several people who contracted the liver disease are in the process of suing the food and drink chain.
Tropical Smoothie Café responded to the lawsuits in an emailed statement. “However, we have some of the highest safety standards in the industry and will defend ourselves vigorously”, a spokesperson for the company wrote. His suit was filed in Loudoun County Circuit Court and seeks $100,000. She seeks reimbursement for the cost of the vaccine and lawyer fees.
The lawsuits contend that Tropical Smoothie Cafe breached the warranty of the safety of its products. Other symptoms of include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine and light-colored stools.
Exposure can occur through direct contact with another person who has the infection or by consuming food or drink that has been contaminated with the virus.
In an interview, the deputy director of Alexandria’s health department, Dr. Tina Singh, told WUSA9 that tracking down the specific restaurant branch linked to each cases can be extremely challenging due to the virus’s long incubation period, and the limits of most people’s memories.
She did not provide the date that the state received test results showing the victims are infected with the same strain of Hepatitis A isolated in strawberries from Egypt. Vaccine or immune globulin must be administered within two weeks of exposure to hepatitis A virus, and the product was removed from the chain’s stores August 6-8.
Eight of those cases are in the Eastern region of Virginia that includes Hampton Roads, 10 are in the Northern region, five Northwest and five Central.
The health department would not specify exactly which of the Tropical Smoothie Cafe locations in Virginia served contaminated strawberries.
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Mike Rotondo, CEO of the company, uploaded a YouTube video on Sunday apologizing for “any issues that this may have caused for any of our customers”.
