Trader Joe’s has been sued by two women who have claimed that the store’s popular chicken wraps sickened them with potentially deadly bacteria.
According to the lawsuit, in one case, Gayle Gottlieb, from North Carolina, bought three tarragon chicken salad wraps from the grocery giant on August 23 and ate the first on August 27.
Two days later, she became sick and was ‘hunched over with abdominal cramping,’ the lawsuit claimed. She allegedly suffered from bloody diarrhea and was hospitalized and discharged on August 31 before being re-admitted that same day with dehydration, a potentially fatal complication.
Testing showed she was infected with Shiga toxin-producing E.coli, a strain that causes serious illness, the lawsuit states.
In the other case, Meaghan Egan Bright, from Massachusetts, was alleged to have purchased a tarragon chicken salad wrap from her local Trader Joe’s and to have consumed it that same day.
She fell ill on August 27, the lawsuit says, and by August 30, was allegedly hospitalized after suffering from vomiting, blood in her stool and severe pain. Doctors told her she was at risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially life-long kidney complication, according to the complaint.
Testing showed she had also tested positive for Shiga toxin-producing E.coli, it was claimed.
The lawsuit was filed in California, where Trader Joe’s has its headquarters, and accused the chain of negligence and demanded a trial by jury.
Trader Joe’s has been sued by two women claiming they fell sick and were hospitalized after eating food from the grocery store
It also alleges that both women were told by local health officials that they were part of a multistate outbreak of E.coli.
On its website, the FDA says it is monitoring an outbreak of E.coli linked to ‘multi-ingredient chicken wraps’ that has sickened 50 people. It does not mention Trader Joe’s.
The source of the outbreak has not been reported by health officials, who say that the wraps no longer pose a risk to the public because they are no longer on shelves.
It is not clear whether the wraps referred to in this outbreak are the same as those that have been cited in the lawsuit.
Gottlieb lives in North Carolina, but purchased her wraps in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The Daily Mail has contacted Trader Joe’s for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Ilana Korchia, an attorney at Marler Clark involved in the case, said in a press release: ‘Two people who have never met bought the same wrap at Trader Joe’s stores in South Carolina and Massachusetts a day apart. Within a week, both were in an emergency room passing blood.
‘Both have laboratory-confirmed Shiga toxin-producing E.coli. Both were told by their health departments that they are part of this outbreak.’
The lawsuit claims the two women were sickened after eating chicken wraps from Trader Joe’s (stock image)
E.coli is transmitted by consuming contaminated food and water, such as undercooked meat, raw milk, unpasteurized juice and leafy greens.
Early symptoms of an infection include abdominal cramps, watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and fever. In some cases, patients also suffer from bloody diarrhea and dehydration, which, in rare cases, can be fatal.
In an infection with the E.coli strain O157:H7, patients are at higher risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially life-long kidney complication, which affects about five to 10 percent of patients.
Anyone can be infected with E.coli, but children under five years old, adults over 65 years old and people who have weakened immune systems are more at risk from the infection.
Roughly 75,000 to 90,000 Americans are infected with the O157:H7 strain of E.coli every year and about 100 die from the disease.
In some cases, an E.coli infection can resolve in a few days without treatment. In cases where symptoms persist, doctors may prescribe antibiotics to clear the infection or put a patient on an intravenous drip to replace lost fluids.
