2 Women Blame Trader Joe’s Wraps For E. Coli Cases In New Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES, CA — Two women who say they bought tarragon chicken salad wraps at Trader Joe's stores in two states filed suit Friday in Los Angeles, alleging the grocery chain caused their hospitalization with E. coli.

Gayle Gottlieb of Pembroke, North Carolina, and Meaghan Egan Bright of Somerville, Massachusetts, contend they were told by their local health departments that they are part of a multistate E. coli outbreak.

This week, public health regulators reported 50 illnesses and, for the first time, identified the cause as ready-to-eat multi-ingredient chicken wraps.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the USDA-regulated wraps were "proactively removed from the market before the link to the outbreak was confirmed," according to the suit.

Attorneys for the women said there has been no recall and no public health alert, and neither agency has named the manufacturer, the brand, the retailer or the states where people got sick.

The plaintiffs allege Monrovia-based Trader Joe's knows who made the wraps, the ingredients and which stores received them, but has made none of the information public.

Trader Joe's did not immediately provide a response to the suit.

The women contend they were hospitalized with E. coli infections after eating tarragon chicken salad wraps bought in August within a day of each other at their local Trader Joe's stores in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Allston, Massachusetts.

The complaint alleges that Trader Joe's pulled the wraps from sale before the link to the outbreak was confirmed, and that it did so because it had reason to believe the product was a food-safety risk.

City News Service