Recently, Heartland Foods, Inc. recalled all containers and sizes of coarse ground black pepper that is distributed from their 34th Street Indianapolis facility. This comes suspiciously close to the recent recall of salami products recalled by Daniele due to salmonella contamination of its pepper coated products.
Since last July, people have become ill because of what was believed to be contaminated red and black pepper. New York spice wholesaler Wholesome Spice Company recalled red pepper recently as well, and a wrongful death lawsuit was recently filed that was related to a 2009 salmonella outbreak that was linked to white pepper. This pepper was produced by a California company, UF Union International Foods.
All of this raises a few questions about pepper, and just how many foods may really be affected. How is Heartland linked to Daniele, and is this company supplied by Wholesome Spice? Did the same exporter supply Wholesome Foods and Heartland? Originally, black pepper was thought to be the cause of the salmonella contamination in Daniele products, but Wholesome has only recalled red pepper, leading us to wonder if black pepper should be recalled as well.
While Heartland only distributes to food producers and retailers, what foods may contain the contaminated black pepper? Since the company does supply retailers and food producers, the black pepper could potentially be used as an ingredient in foods that are further processed. If this is the case, what foods are potentially contaminated with salmonella food poisoning? This problem may run much deeper than originally suspected.
Johnny’s french dip powdered au jus, which is distributed nationwide and sold in retail stores, was recalled due to salmonella tainted hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and recently T. Marzetti Company recalled some of its chip and dip products because of possible contamination with salmonella. In the case of T. Marzetti, were the products contaminated because of HVP, or pepper? It looks like sometime in the future, we will begin to see a link between all of these ingredients and food product contamination.
Raymond Cirimele, a 55 year old Chicago resident, filed a lawsuit claiming that Daniele International, Wholesome Spice and Mincing Overseas Spice failed to prevent an outbreak. A Missouri man also filed suit against Daniele and Wholesome recently.
Who knows when this will end? Salmonella food poisoning is not usually serious in healthy individuals, but can pose major health risks in certain individuals. If you suspect food poisoning after eating foods that are possibly tainted with salmonella, contact a New York food poisoning attorney to learn what rights you may have.
Brown Chiari is a team of experienced New York personal injury attorneys.
