Taco Bell – “Mexican-style fast-food restaurant chain” – Salmonella Outbreak

A 22-year-old Oklahoma woman who says she contracted salmonella after eating at Taco Bell has sued the fast-food company. Leah Smith claims she became sick while attending a University of Oklahoma football game last fall, two days after eating at a Taco Bell in Norman. She says she was sick for two weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control said last month that 16 people in Oklahoma are among 68 people who were infected with salmonella after eating at a “Mexican-style fast-food restaurant chain.”

Jimmy John’s – E. coli Outbreak

An Altoona woman has become the second Iowan to sue Jimmy John’s sandwich chain over an outbreak of foodborne illness linked to sprouts. Mollie Horton, 23, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Polk County District Court. She said she fell ill Dec. 26, days after eating a sandwich from a Jimmy John’s party platter at a family gathering. Horton’s lawsuit said she removed the sprouts from the sandwich but nonetheless caught E. coli poisoning that caused her to be hospitalized for three days and sick for weeks. Testing showed her illness was the result of the strain linked to the outbreak, which sickened 12 people in five states. Federal authorities said last week that five of the 12 patients were from Iowa.

A Jimmy John’s spokeswoman declined to comment. But Horton’s attorney, Bill Marler, says the Illinois-based chain has finally pulled sprouts from its menu.

A Polk County woman sickened for weeks after eating tainted sprouts has filed a lawsuit accusing sandwich chain Jimmy John’s of serving unsafe food. On Tuesday, Heather Tuttle of Clive filed a separate lawsuit in Des Moines seeking damages for pain and suffering. Tuttle was diagnosed with E. coli poisoning after eating a turkey sandwich from a West Des Moines Jimmy John’s in West Des Moines last month. Her lawsuit describes weeks of excruciating cramps and diarrhea that required medical treatment.