Food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of a woman from central Illinois who was hospitalized in the Subway Salmonella Hvittingfoss outbreak.

“Our client ate a sandwich and ended up in the hospital. This should never happen in our country”
.The 52-year-old resident of Tazewell County is one of at least 97 people who have tested positive for the same strain of Salmonella in an outbreak linked to more than 40 Subway locations in 28 Illinois counties. Pritzker Olsen is in contact with other victims.

Attorney Fred Pritzker said the client ate an oven-roasted chicken sub on May 11 at the Subway on 603 Jackson Street in Morton, Illinois. She was hospitalized for several days after suffering gastroenteritis and cramping with severe vomiting.

“Our client ate a sandwich and ended up in the hospital. This should never happen in our country,” Pritzker said. “Stringent sanitation requirements should be in place all along the food chain, and federal and state health officials should be given the authority and money needed to enforce the laws. Large restaurant chains should require suppliers to regularly test for Salmonella and other dangerous pathogens.”

Pritzker Olsen is also representing victims of a shigellosis outbreak associated with the Subway restaurant in Lombard, Illinois. The firm filed a lawsuit in March of this year on behalf of one of the victims, a resident of DuPage County, Illinois, who battled a severe Shigella infection for two weeks. The Subway lawsuit alleges that the outbreak was caused by sick food handlers at the restaurant.

Although contaminated food was the source of this current outbreak linked to certain Subway restaurants in Illinois, health officials are concerned that sick food handlers may continue to spread Salmonella Hvittingfoss. To prevent this, the Illinois Department of Public Health is requiring food handlers in 46 Subway restaurants to have two consecutive test results that are negative for Salmonella Hvittingfoss before being allowed to return to work.

For more information, visit http://www.pritzkerlaw.com or contact Pritzker Olsen law firm at (612) 338-0202. Pritzker Olsen offices are located at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.