Federal food safety officials have tied a specific grocery chain to the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has sickened at least 50 people. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said on Oct. 23 that ready-to-eat chicken wraps from certain Trader Joe's stores were "a common exposure among people who became sick," according to a USA Today report republished by The Spokesman-Review. A lawsuit and state investigation records reviewed by USA Today identified the product as Trader Joe's Tarragon Chicken Salad Wraps.
For households, the confirmation turns a vague warning into something a family can actually check. Anyone who ate the wraps in late summer and later developed severe diarrhea now has a specific food to mention to a doctor or local health department. Trader Joe's told USA Today in an Oct. 20 email that it pulled the wraps from shelves in nine states after the FDA notified the chain in September of a possible issue, so they should no longer be in stores.
