A Rhode Island meat company and two of its former spice suppliers are defendants in a tainted food lawsuit brought by a Chicago man, the Associated Press reports. Raymond Cirimele filed suit for an illness he claims was the result of eating salami produced by Daniele International Inc. Wholesome Spice, and Mincing Overseas Spice Company were named co-defendants in the suit.
Daniele International recalled roughly 1.26 million pounds of its meat products in January and expanded the recall to include 115,000 pounds of peppered salami in February, according to the US Dept. of Agriculture.
The culprit? Possible salmonella contamination in the pepper used in the salami, according to a Chicago Sun-Times article about Mr. Cirimele's lawsuit. Mr. Cirimele claims that he regularly bought the affected salami at a Costco store in Cook County.
The AP article points out that Mr. Cirimele did not hire a Chicago injury lawyer as one might expect, but rather Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who also represents a Missouri client in a similar products liability suit against Daniele International.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been investigating the outbreak and so far has tallied 225 reported cases of illness; including 15 in Illinois. An attorney representing Wholesome Spice argues there's no evidence of negligence or salmonella.
Mr. Cirimele would beg to differ and says he was sick for three weeks, lost six pounds and still suffers joint pain. "Your guts are just churning constantly," he told reporters. A sample taken by Mr. Cirimele's physician tested positive for that particular strain of bacteria, according to the lawsuit.
Related Resources:
- Types of Food Poisoning: Salmonella (FindLaw)
- Directory of Chicago Injury Lawyers (FindLaw)
-
Salami Food Recall Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination (FindLaw's Common Law Blog)
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