The Food and Drug Administration says that an onion supplier is responsible for a salmonella outbreak that has sickened people all over America. Thomson International is based in California, and its recalled onions are sold under many different brand names, all of which were recalled on Aug. 1, 2020. However, since the recall only removes the onions from store shelves, some people might still have tainted onions in their homes.
Hundreds sickened with salmonella
Although the FDA only recently announced the recall, Thomson began shipping onions contaminated with salmonella as early as May 1, 2020. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control — the CDC – reports that approximately 640 people have been infected with salmonella since around June 19, 2020. Children as young as just a year old have gotten sick, with the oldest victim said to be 102. The average victim age for this particular salmonella outbreak is 39.
The CDC has also identified at least 25 illness clusters. An illness cluster is when at least two people living in separate households shop at the same location, attending a common event or ate at the same restaurant during the week before they got sick. The majority of illness clusters involved red onions. The CDC believes that red onions are primarily responsible for the salmonella outbreak. Still, other types of onions are likely also contaminated because of how they are grown and then harvested.
California consumers should be able to purchase groceries or order restaurant meals with the confidence that they will not get sick. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Victims who suffer severe cases of foodborne illnesses such as salmonella may even end up in the hospital. Handling the often hefty medical bills that follow soon after can be a struggle for the average person, although pursuing a products liability claim for a recalled product can prove helpful for some.