Chiquita Brands Named in Tainted Spinach Lawsuit

By Amy Teeple

Published on September 22, 2006

Both Chiquita Brands, Inc. and its subsidiary, Fresh Express, have been named in the lawsuit that was filed in Buffalo, New York.

Chris O’Brien, the attorney for the girl’s family, stated that the family is pleased with the victim’s positive prognosis, but they want to keep her out of the media spotlight. To protect the identity of the teenage girl, who remains hospitalized in stable condition, the lawsuit refers to her parents only as John and Jane Doe.

Although no tests have yet been completed to verify the presence of E. coli in the Fresh Express spinach, O’Brien states that the teenager’s strain of infection is identical to the E. coli connected to the recent national outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration has already confirmed over 100 cases of illness, including one death, related to contaminated spinach.

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