Seven victims of last autumn’s deadly E. coli O157:H7 outbreak have filed lawsuits alleging lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms to be the source of the outbreak.

The multi-state outbreak was investigated by the US Centers for Diseae Control and Prevention (CDC) in cooperation with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and various state and local public health partners.

As a result of its traceback, sampling, and inspection efforts, the FDA’s Coordinated Outbreak Response & Evaluation (CORE) Network established that a single processor was the source of the contaminated romaine lettuce that sickened 89 people, resulting in 36 hospitalizations, 7 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one death.

The processor sourced the lettuce from a single grower.

The CDC and FDA closed their investigation on January 15, 2025, just one week before the inauguration of Donald Trump. According to the FDA’s final report, the processor, “…was not named during this outbreak because there was no product remaining in commerce.”

The FDA redacted the name of the processor from the version of the report obtained by eFoodAlert in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

Thanks to an excellent piece of epidemiological detective work by the Marler Clark law firm, Taylor Farms has now been identified as the processor of the contaminated romaine lettuce.

Commenting on the law firm’s investigation in his Marler Blog, Bill Marler wrote, “Because we represent people and families from several states that were WGS matches to each other, it was not long until our on-staff Epidemiologist determined that the common link was that all clients consumed Taylor Farms romaine lettuce in the outbreak period.”

One of the victims represented by Marler Clark—a ten-year old child—experienced the following symptoms after consuming Taylor Farms romaine lettuce purchased by his parents at a Kroger supermarket (as extracted from the court filing):

On or about November 10, 2024, Plaintiff began to feel ill with symptoms including loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea (that eventually became bloody), stomach cramps, fever, muscle aches and fatigue. 

The diarrhea, stomach cramping, and pain increased, and, by November 17, 2024, Plaintiff was seen in the emergency department of Hendricks Regional Health Brownsburg Hospital. 

Due to his deteriorating condition, Plaintiff was transferred to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. 

Plaintiff was hospitalized from November 17, 2024 to December 5, 2024. Plaintiff was diagnosed with life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) due to E. coli O157:H7 that was confirmed to be a whole genome sequence (WGS) match to a nationwide outbreak linked to Defendants’ romaine lettuce. 

While hospitalized Plaintiff underwent 9 days of continuous renal replacement therapy (hemodialysis) followed by another five days of intermittent hemodialysis, and he received 5 blood transfusions over the 18 days he was hospitalized. He also required medication for blood pressure and pain management. He turned 10 while hospitalized. 

Since being released from the hospital, Plaintiff has continued medical and psychological care and Plaintiff is at risk for ongoing treatment, including the risk of kidney failure. 

The Trump administration has severely cut back FDA and CDC personnel since taking office, including axing communications teams, records management staff, and Freedom of Information management staff.

More and more, the future of food safety will have to rest on the shoulders of individual consumers, bloggers, and law firms such as Marler Clark.

Interested in learning more about food safety and the history of foodborne disease outbreaks and investigations?

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