Lawsuit Says Public Not Informed About E. coli Outbreak that Hit 15 States

A law firm sued a California farm last week on behalf of two children and one adult who all suffered acute kidney failure to an E. coli infection. The lawsuit states that the source of the E. coli was Romaine lettuce produced by Taylor Farms, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not publicize the outbreak. 

A press release from the law firm stated that 89 people in 15 states were sickened in the outbreak. Of these, a confirmed 36 were hospitalized, 7 suffered kidney failure, and one died, according to the press release. 

The firm stated that Taylor Farms was confirmed as the source of the lettuce, but the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and FDA both failed to inform the public of the risk. 

Taylor Farms has denied the allegation.

Company Denies Allegation

In a statement, the company said, “Taylor Farms product WAS NOT the source of the referenced 2024 E. Coli outbreak. We performed extensive raw and finished product testing on all our products and there was no evidence of contamination. Any reporting that connects Taylor Farms products to these heartbreaking illnesses is dangerous, irresponsible, and unfair to the impacted families.”

The company was also named in an October 2024 E. coli outbreak involving slivered onions served at McDonald’s. One person died and almost three dozen were hospitalized in the outbreak.

NBC News published an internal FDA report that stated, “there were no public communications related to this outbreak.” It added that the company in question was not named because there was “no product remaining in commerce.”

As NBC noted, federal officials are not required by law to reveal details to the public about foodborne illness outbreaks and may choose not to publicize an outbreak if they don’t have enough details about the cause. 

An FDA spokesperson told NBC, “The FDA names firms when there is enough evidence linking an outbreak to a firm and there is actionable advice for consumers, as long as naming the firm is not legally prohibited. By the time investigators had confirmed the likely source, the outbreak had already ended, and there was no actionable advice for consumers.”

The outbreak occurred in early November. It involved the especially dangerous 0157:H7 strain of E. coli and all of the people initially sickened were high school students from St. Louis County. The symptoms reported included bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, and dehydration. 

A total of 115 confirmed or probable cases were linked to food served by a caterer. Federal investigators eventually concluded that romaine lettuce from a sole processor was the culprit. 

Study Highlights Cancer Risk for E. coli Exposure

New research published this week provides evidence that childhood exposure to E. coli may be responsible for a rise in bowel cancer cases in patients under 50 years old.  

“These mutation patterns are a kind of historical record in the genome, and they point to early-life exposure to colibactin as a driving force behind early-onset disease,” one of the study’s authors wrote. 

Lawsuit Follows Mass Layoffs at FDA

News of the FDA’s failure to report the outbreak came about a month after mass layoff began to hit government agencies responsible for food safety. 

The layoff began a week after an announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that it was cutting 10,000 full-time employees across health agencies.

The cuts include 3,500 full-time employees at the FDA, 2,400 at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1,200 at the National Institutes of Health, and 300 at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The layoffs also include over 100 employees from the FDA’s Human Foods Program.