Food Poisoning Lawsuit Filed Over Salmonella From Recalled Nuts

A New York man has filed a lawsuit against American Pistachio Corp., alleging he experienced severe food poisoning from recalled pine nuts imported by the company, which were contaminated with salmonella. 

The food poisoning lawsuit was filed last week by Sean McGuirk in U.S. District Court in New York.

According to allegations raised in the complaint, McGuirk fell ill on September 3 after eating the nuts on August 28. American Pistachio imported the nuts while doing business under the name Sunrise Commodities.

McGuirk suffered gastrointestinal problems and was eventually hospitalized on September 9. He was released September 11. McGuirk is a student at St. John Fisher College and says that the illness made him miss a number of classes and suffer other damages.

On October 27, a Turkish pine nuts recall was announced for 5,000 pounds of the nuts sold at Wegmans Food Markets and imported by Sunrise Commodities. The FDA warned consumers not to eat any of the pine nuts imported by Sunrise Commodities after at least 42 people in five states reportedly suffered salmonella food poisoning believed to be caused by the nuts.

Salmonella, also known as salmonellosis, is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States, producing symptoms like high fever, persistent diarrhea, dehydration, vomiting, severe abdominal cramps and pain. The first symptoms usually begin to surface between 12 hours and 3 days after consuming the salmonella infected food.

For most healthy adults, salmonella symptoms pass within a few days to a week. However, in some cases severe illness can persist for longer and lead to more serious health problems. Those who are most susceptible to serious injury include the elderly, infants and those with chronic conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes or weak immune systems.