PHOENIX —Two lawsuits have been filed against JBS USA subsidiary, JBS Tolleson Inc., following the company’s massive beef recall.
The latest suit comes from Joseph Rozich, a Las Vegas resident who became ill after consuming two Taco Bell Crunch Wrap Supremes. According to the lawsuit filed on Oct. 8, he purchased the food on Aug. 31 and started to experience symptoms of diarrhea, stomach cramps and nausea. Rozich was sent to the hospital in Henderson, Nevada, where he tested positive for Salmonella Newport.
Rozich will be represented in his case by Seattle-based Marler Clark, a food safety law firm and Las Vegas-based Murphy & Murphy Law Offices.
In the first lawsuit Dana Raab, from Florence, Kentucky, was diagnosed with Salmonella after eating beef produced by JBS. On Sept. 15, Raab went to emergency room and was admitted to the hospital for five days. While there she was diagnosed with a blocked bile duct and severe dehydration. Testing from the hospital came back positive for Salmonella Newport.
Raab bought ground beef from a Sam’s Club on Sept. 9 and used it to make meatloaf on Sept. 11, according to the lawsuit. She will also be represented by Marler Clark and Phoenix-based O’Steen & Harrison in the case.
On Oct. 4, JBS Tolleson announced a recall of approximately 6.51 million lbs. of raw, non-intact beef product beef products, including ground beef due to concerns that the beef may be contaminated with Salmonella Newport. A day later, the US Dept. Of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) increased the amount of beef recalled to more than 6.9 million lbs.
The recall was the result of an investigation into multiple Salmonella Newport illnesses, which started with an initial retail store receipt received on Sept. 19 from an ill consumer. FSIS officials were then able to traceback the suspected beef products after receiving purchasing information from a total of eight consumers identified as case patients. Public health officials identified 57 cases of the foodborne illness across 16 states so far.
According to the FSIS report, the onset of these patients’ illnesses was between Aug. 5, 2018, and Sept. 6, 2018, and investigators have concluded that JBS was the supplier of ground beef products linking the cases in the outbreak.
JBS USA did not respond to a request for comment.