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In a news piece on May 11, 2007, an announcement came out that beef shipped to Virginia (VA) among other states was recalled because of E. coli. Over 100, 000 pounds of beef was accidentally shipped to eight states according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture which appears to have been tainted.

Seven people were known to have been sickened by this ground beef and three had to be hospitalized before they recovered. Symptoms of E. coli include stomach cramps that may be severe. Food poisoning from E. coli contamination can also lead to more serious complications such as kidney failure. If you or a family member is ever made sick by bad food you may have a claim against the store or distributor of the product. Virginia (VA) law is fairly strict on injuries caused by the breach of warranty that food is wholesome and fit for human consumption.

If this happens to you, you should keep all receipts and evidence of your purchase of the product and report the incident to the store that sold it to you. To the extent that you have a serious medical complication that requires hospitalization you should contact a personal injury attorney to see what can be done to claim compensation for the harm. If your symptoms are just stomach cramps and diarrhea that last for only a couple of days and only require a doctor’s visit or two, you may want to resolve your claim directly with insurance company for the store in question without an attorney. It seems like there are more and more reports of this kind of bacterial contamination of food, whether it be in meat or fresh produce. As with so many diseases, the really serious injuries from E. coli contamination typically are in the very young, very old or people who are already weakened for some other reason.

Authored By: John M. Cooper

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