Tesco and Asda are being sued by customers who have been left seriously ill after consuming the supermarket’s own-brand sandwiches contaminated with E. coli.
The grocery giants are facing legal action by claimants, who include the family of an 11-year-old girl who spent three weeks on dialysis after eating a chicken salad sandwich infected with Shiga toxin-producing E.coli, reported the BBC.
The young girl has been discharged, but lawyers at Fieldfisher representing the family issued a letter of claim for breach of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 to Asda on behalf of the girl.
The lawyers have also delivered a letter of claim to Tesco for breach of the same act on behalf of an adult male client who was also hospitalised.
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The news follows an outbreak in E. coli, which was linked to salad leaves in food-to-go products, including sandwiches, wraps and salads, in retailers including Asda, Sainsbury’s, Boots, Aldi, Co-op, Morrisons, Amazon and WHSmith.
Sandwich suppliers Greencore, Samworth Brothers and Manton Wood withdrew several products from shelves as a “precautionary measure” following the outbreak.
The FSA and UKHSA has since launched an investigation, and while the FSA called it a “complex” issue, it maintained it was “confident the likely source of the outbreak” remained lettuce.
A spokesperson for the FSA added: “This remains a complex investigation and we continue to work with the relevant businesses and the local authorities to ensure necessary steps are being taken to protect consumers.
“Although we are confident in the likely source of the outbreak being linked to lettuce, work continues to confirm this and identify the root cause of the outbreak with the growers, suppliers and manufacturers so that actions can be taken to prevent a re-occurrence.”
As of 1 July, the E. coli outbreak in the UK is thought to have left more than 120 people in hospital, including a six years old, and led to the confirmed death of one person.
Asda and Tesco have been contacted for comment.
