Burger chain Red Cow, beef distributor sued over E. coli outbreak
Three people who were sickened in an E. coli outbreak at Red Cow locations in November have sued the Twin Cities restaurant chain and the food distributor that supplied the contaminated ground beef.
A civil complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court this week seeks to hold Red Cow and Detroit-based distributor Wolverine Packing Co. liable for negligence in the “preparation, storage, and/or sale of adulterated ground beef.”
The Minnesota Department of Health says it identified 29 cases of E. coli around the metro connected to Wolverine products — 20 of those were found in people who had dined at Red Cow locations. The illnesses were reported in people who had frequented those restaurants between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.
Wolverine recalled more than 83 tons of ground beef amid the outbreak, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. In a statement issued in November, Red Cow said it stopped serving the contaminated product as soon as it was notified and switched suppliers.
The plaintiffs — Melissa Rosenbaum, Sheri-Ann McGruder and Tyler Magnuson — say they were infected with E. coli after eating at Red Cow’s locations in St. Paul and southwest Minneapolis.
All three infections resulted in hospitalizations, and two plaintiffs had symptoms consistent with hemolytic uremic syndrome. HUS is a potentially deadly condition that can result in kidney failure and other health complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The complaint accuses Red Cow of not adequately cooking its burgers to kill pathogens and further alleges that Red Cow “had reason to know” about a 2014 E. coli outbreak linked to Wolverine and “should have discovered and foreseen the problems with producing and selling E. coli-contaminated beef products.”
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to Red Cow and Wolverine for comment on the litigation.