A collective food poisoning database known as PulseNet contains cases of people made ill from Salmonella that match the strain of Salmonella found in pistachios from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the keeper of PulseNet, is investigating the matches to determine if contaminated pistachios caused the illnesses. The probe is part of the ongoing state and federal action that stemmed from the discovery by a Setton Pistachio customer that batches of the nuts tested positive for Salmonella.

While no outbreak of Salmonella has yet been confirmed, recalls of pistachio food products continue to be added to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's master list.

The FDA's most recent report on the pistachio investigation notes that three environmental samples of Setton Pistachio nuts and one sample obtained from the plant during inspection tested positive for Salmonella Montevideo, with the same genetic footprint in all four samples.

The latest report also gives the following update:

Some of the DNA fingerprints of the Salmonella strains from the pistachio products match the DNA fingerprints of Salmonella strains from recently ill persons already in the PulseNet database. This particular strain of Salmonella also has been isolated from a stool sample in a child who developed gastroenteritis and who is reported to have consumed pistachios that were sourced from Setton Pistachio. In addition, this specific Salmonella fingerprint matches a number of other clinical isolates in the PulseNet data base. However, it is important to recognize that when a patient’s isolate has a relatively common DNA fingerprint pattern (such as this one) that matches that of a food isolate, it does not necessarily follow that the patient’s illness was related to that food. CDC is investigating whether the other cases infected with this strain of Salmonella have had exposure to pistachios from Setton Pistachio.


National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., currently represents Salmonella survivors around the country, including the families of three women who died with Salmonella infections after consuming contaminated peanut products. The firm is a prominent advocate for victims of food poisoning and its lawyers have been quoted or featured in such media as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CBS News, Fox News, The Associated Press and CNN.

To contact a salmonella attorney at PritzkerOlsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or get a free online case consultation.

Labels: CDC, salmonella attorney, salmonella pistachio lawsuit, setton pistacho