Salmonella Onion Recalls Spark Another Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit Canada is moving forward after over 500 Canadians fell ill due to consuming red onions that were ostensibly contaminated with salmonella. The salmonella onion class action lawsuit was filed in Alberta last week by James H. Brown and Associates.

Spearheading the salmonella onion class action is lawyer Rick Mallett. According to him, the red onion recall is the largest recall of contaminated onions ever. He said the latest numbers indicate there is a concentration of cases in Western Canada, including 293 cases in Alberta, 121 in British Columbia and the rest in Manitoba.

Mallett says the number of potential Class Members is growing every day. However, he believes that Class Members represent a smaller number of people than those actually affected by the salmonella onion contamination.

“There’s a number of people that are identified by the [testing] but that’s never everybody,” he told CBC News.

“Not everybody knows about it, not everybody gets tested. So it’s typically two or three times the actual number that are identified, so probably two or three times that 515, that are actually affected across the country.”

Salmonella Contamination Claims More Victims

Sydonni Allridge, a 31-year-old student from Sherwood Park, began feeling sick in early August. She was suffering from nausea and other stomach-related issues on a daily basis.

“I didn’t understand what was going on for a while,” she told reporters. “Eventually I went to the hospital and I had to do [a round of tests] and I found out I had salmonella poisoning.”

Sydonni was contacted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) while in hospital, and they traced her illness back to onions from a fast food restaurant in Sherwood Park.

According to Sydonni, she still feels ill from salmonella poisoning, and added that the ongoing situation has impacted her ability to live her life normally.

“I couldn’t really go out anywhere,” she said. “I always had to use the bathroom or my stomach was just really hurting or I was vomiting. It was really a struggle.”

Thomson International To Blame for Contaminated Onions

In August, the CFIA identified Thomson International Inc. out of Bakersfield, California as the source of the contaminated onions. However, on Oct. 1, the CFIA stated that the risk of contamination had disappeared.

Legal counsel representing the salmonella onion class action lawsuit reported that once Thompson is served, the action will be assigned to a case management judge, following which the class action lawsuit will go through the certification process.

It could take up to two years for the class action to traverse the Alberta court system.

The lawyer notes that class action lawsuits can be an important tool to hold corporations accountable.

“In a case like this we can do a lot to ensure that the food chain is safe,” Mallett said. “It’s such a huge concern for Canadians and Americans too.”

“It can really bring justice to individual people where you could just not afford to do a case on your own. If you can get together with a class or a group it gives you a real strength.”

Salmonella Onion Class Action Lawsuits Grow

In late August, a Quebec class action lawsuit was launched against Thomson International over salmonella infested onions.

As of July, the CFIA published a food recall notice regarding a number of salmonella outbreaks linked with Thomson onions. In August, a new notice was published including Quebec as another Canadian province infected with Thomson International’s salmonella outbreak. After numerous food recall notices in both Canada and the U.S., Thomson recalled all red, white, yellow and sweet onions on Aug. 1, 2020.

Earlier the same month, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a Canadian citizen living in the U.S. after she got sick from salmonella tainted onions from Thomson International. The salmonella laced onions have caused an outbreak of illness in the U.S. and Canada, resulting in hundreds of people getting sick.

More Salmonella Recalls

Recently, the CFIA recalled a couple of Sunsprout Natural Foods Micro – Greens from the marketplace due to possible Salmonella contamination.

Sprouts Alive brand and Sunsprout brand Micro – Greens Alfalfa have been recalled due to reports of salmonella, as well as Sunsprout brand Micro – Greens, Alfalfa & Onion and Alfalfa & Radish.

Public Health Ontario is investigating an outbreak of human illness associated with consumption of these products.

Did you fall ill after consuming a product infected with salmonella? Do you want to join the salmonella onion class action lawsuit? Share your story with us in the comments below!

Potential Class Members are represented by James H. Brown and Associates.