Salmonella Egg Outbreak Facilities Inspected by Pritzker Olsen Attorneys

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, October 09, 2010 (Press-News.org) Salmonella attorneys from food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen have inspected the Hillandale Farms and Wright County Egg facilities, which were at the center of a nationwide Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak late this summer and early fall. The two Iowa egg producers were linked to the August recall of more than 500 million eggs and 1,600 illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Pritzker Olsen represents dozens of clients throughout the United States sickened in this outbreak. The firm filed the first egg lawsuit in Minnesota on behalf of a woman sickened in June after eating at Mi Rancho, a Bemidji restaurant that served eggs purchased from Hillandale Farms. The case was filed in Beltrami County District Court (no. 04-CV-10-3168). Pritzker Olsen food safety attorneys continue to take on new cases related to this outbreak.

Attorneys Brendan Flaherty and Ryan Osterholm hired a poultry processing and products microbiology expert to accompany them in the inspection of the egg production facilities at Hillandale Farms in New Hampton, Iowa and Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, on Sept. 30 and Oct. 5, respectively.

"It was important for us to personally inspect these facilities and have our expert document the numerous food safety violations that the Food and Drug Administration found there," Flaherty said. "Seeing firsthand the conditions that led to our clients' illnesses allows us to prove their cases and see that they are compensated for the physical, emotional and financial hardships the contaminated eggs caused them."

The FDA documented such unsanitary conditions as: live mice in chicken barns, numerous live and dead flies, manure piles up to eight feet high, uncaged hens tracking manure throughout the facilities, and others. Last year, Pritzker Olsen food safety attorneys also attended inspections of the Peanut Corporation of America facilities as part of their litigation on behalf of victims of the 2009 Salmonella peanut butter outbreak. The firm represents the families of three victims who died in that outbreak--more than any law firm involved in the PCA litigation. That case recently settled for $12 million.

Pritzker Olsen, P.A., of Minneapolis, Minn., has obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorneys Brendan Flaherty and Ryan Osterholm are available for consumer and media contact at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). More information on the ongoing egg litigation can be found on the firm's blog: http://foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com.

Website: http://www.pritzkerlaw.com