Ground Turkey Recalled After Being Linked to Death, Illnesses

In one of the largest meat recalls ever, Cargill has announced that is recalling 36 million pounds of ground turkey after one person has died and at least 76 others have been sickened.  Cargill, a major United States meat processor, said it would suspend ground turkey production at the Arkansas plant where the tainted meat was produced until it could identify the source of the contamination and fix it.

The company said some of the ground turkey was sold in supermarkets under the Honeysuckle White brand and that it was recalling ground turkey produced at the Arkansas plant since late February since the first cases of sickness associated with the current outbreak occurred in early March.  Additional cases have been reported every week and officials say they expect the current number of illnesses will increase because there is often a time lag in reporting new cases.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak involves a strain of the bacteria known as Salmonella Heidelberg, which is resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics.  Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems.  Healthy persons infected with Salmonella can experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.  In rare circumstances, the infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

So far, 26 states have reported illnesses including Pennsylvania, Michigan Ohio, Texas, California, Missouri and Illinois.  It was not clear why it took five months to identify the outbreak and its source and to notify the public of the investigation.

The attorneys at Messa & Associates have successfully represented many victims of recalled products.  If you or a loved one has been ill as a result of consuming ground turkey products produced by Cargill and involved in this recall, please contact us at 1-877-MessaLaw.