Food poisoning specialist law firm Ron Simon & Associates, along with Dunk Law Firm, PLLC, on December 14 announced the filing of a lawsuit in the multi-state outbreak of E. coli O121:H19 infections linked to Earth Grown brand frozen falafel packed exclusively for the Aldi discount grocery chain in the United States. The suit was filed against Cuisine Innovations Unlimited, LLC and Aldi Inc. on behalf of Nicole Ksioszk, who purchased the bag-in-box product from an Aldi store in Crafton, Wisconsin, USA.
On October 7, the FDA and CDC identified Earth Grown Vegan Traditional Falafel and Garlic & Herb Falafel as the source of the outbreak. The products were distributed by Lakewood, New Jersey-based Cuisine Innovations Unlimited, and sold at Aldi locations in the United States.
According to the CDC, a total of 24 laboratory-confirmed illnesses have been reported from the states of Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. At least five of them required hospitalization due to the severity of symptoms, with at least one person developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure.
“Ms. Ksioszk, who was hospitalized after eating the tainted product, continues to recover from E. coli food poisoning,” according to a press release issued by Ron Simon & Associates.
Cuisine Innovations Unlimited voluntarily recalled the frozen falafel packs shipped to stores after June 24, due to the possible presence of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. and the potential exposure to the toxin producing bacteria.
Upon being notified of the potential contamination by Cuisine Innovations, Aldi immediately removed the affected 12-ounce packages from all of its stores in the USA.The items were also available for purchase through the company’s partnership with Instacart, a grocery delivery service.
