Tainted Egg Outbreak Yields First Salmonella Lawsuit

• Bad eggs by major producer Rose Acre Farms Inc. caused woman’s hospitalization, complaint says • More than 206 million eggs recalled internationally, 35 sickened in nine states in ongoing outbreak

Rose Acre Farms Inc., a major egg producer that recalled 206.7 million eggs in April amid a nine-state salmonella outbreak, should be held liable for a Florida woman’s extended hospitalization, according to a federal lawsuit.

The negligence complaint, filed May 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is the first in the ongoing outbreak that has sickened 35, 11 of whom were hospitalized.

Florida resident Judy Roberts also names Earth City, Mo.-based Sav-A-Lot Food Stores Ltd., as a defendant.

Roberts, 70, bought the eggs at a Sav-A-Lot store in Perry, Fla., under the Coburn Farms brand name and was hospitalized twice for a total of seven days as her condition worsened, the complaint states.

Roberts also says she is at increased risk from foodborne pathogens as a diabetic and cancer survivor.

Illness reportsbegan in November 2017 and continued through March 22 in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rose Acre’s voluntary recall has an international reach. It was extended May 4 to at least seven Caribbean nations, including the Bahamas, Haiti, and Aruba, the Food and Drug AdministrationreportedMay 4.

The FDA is focused on Seymour, Ind.-based Rose Acre’s facility in North Carolina, where more than 3 million chickens produce an average of 2.3 million eggs a day in a high-rise hen complex.

Aninspection reportby that agency in April found an “ongoing rodent infestation,” filth in some food processing areas, and other sanitation shortcomings at the farm in Pantego, N.C. FDA inspectors reported multiple live and dead rodents, filth in some food processing areas, and employees who failed to follow cleaning protocols—all factors that could contribute to a salmonella outbreak.

Rose Acre Farms and Sav-A-Lot didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The law offices of Rebecca S. Vinocur PA represent Roberts.

The case isRoberts v. Rose Acre Farms, Inc., S.D. Fla., No. 18-cv-61082, filed 5/14/18.