A third lawsuit has been filed against Tropical Smoothie Cafe on behalf of seven victims who fell ill with Hepatitis A after consuming smoothies from a Tropical Smoothie Café location. Soon after consumption, they all fell ill with Hepatitis A and experienced typical symptoms of the disease.
Several of the smoothies consumed by these victims contained frozen strawberries from Egypt. As of September 8, 2016, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports 89 people with Hepatitis A linked to this outbreak from seven states (MD, NC, NY, OR, VA, WI, and WV). The CDC, Food and Drug Administration, and local officials are currently investigating the outbreak, which has been linked to the Egyptian frozen strawberries served in Tropical Smoothie Café locations. Egypt’s Ministry of Agriculture has also launched an investigation into the tainted strawberries.
This latest complaint identifies not only Tropical Smoothie Café, LLC, whose corporate office is in Atlanta, GA, as a defendant, but also all the companies within the supply chain, which moved and distributed frozen strawberries from Egypt to restaurants in Virginia.
In addition to Tropical Smoothie Café, LLC, the defendants include JMG Enterprises, Inc. of Great Falls, VA; Sysco Corporation of Houston, TX; Sysco Hampton Roads, Inc. of Houston, TX; Sysco VA, LLC of Harrisonburg, VA; Sysco Merchandising and Supply Chain Services, Inc. of Houston, TX; International Traders, Inc. of Rocky Mount, NC; Patagonia Foods, LLC of San Luis Obispo, CA; and VLM Foods USA, Inc. of Plattsburgh, NY.