Strawberries from Egypt contaminated with HAV
ATLANTA, GA: (September 6, 2016) – Customers exposed to Hepatitis A in Tropical Smoothie cafes in multiple states should be notified of the dangers of the disease so they can be checked and treated, according to a lawsuit filed by customer Samantha Kiker in Atlanta last week.
The suit, filed on September 2nd, seeks relief nationally for all customers exposed to Hepatitis A in frozen strawberries served at Tropical Smoothie cafes. The company is headquartered in Fulton County, Georgia.
“There’s been no effective notice to customers of the locations where they may have been exposed to the disease,” says attorney Jim McDonough from Heninger Garrison Davis, LLC (HGD). HGD filed the suit for Kiker.
The Center for Disease Control reports that customers in many states have contracted Hepatitis A (HAV) from exposure to the strawberries. The states include Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin.
“We ask the Court to order the company to report all café locations affected and notify all customers who may have been exposed,” McDonough explains. “Why the company refuses to provide and post this information is unexplained and inexcusable.”
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After learning of the potential link to strawberries, Tropical Smoothie Cafe allegedly conducted a product withdrawal of the strawberries at issue. However, according to Kiker’s suit, it has not notified customers at all the locations where the strawberries were consumed. Those locations remain a mystery, say the attorneys who filed the lawsuit.
“Customers need to know if they were exposed, so they can get checked and treated,” according to McDonough. “If we succeed, Tropical Smoothie will have to post helpful information at all cafes where the contaminated strawberries were consumed.”
Early treatment after exposure to HAV is vital to avoid being infected. The contagious disease is not curable but if treated with a vaccine within two weeks of the initial exposure, infection can be prevented.
HGD is reaching out to the public in hopes of notifying other Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s customers of possible exposure to HAV. If you have been exposed to HAV from a Tropical Smoothie Cafe, call now 855-228-1929.
The suit is Samantha Kiker v. Tropical Smoothie Café, Superior Court, Fulton County, Georgia.
