Contaminated food: Anger, pain and death

A rash of contaminated food, from peanuts to eggs, has led to several deaths over recent years. A listeria outbreak earlier this year is thought to be the deadliest in more than a decade. Here’s a look at outbreaks of illness related to food that have hit the nation.

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Wal-Mart has pulled a batch of powdered infant formula from more than 3,000 of its stores nationwide on Dec. 21, 2011 after a newborn Missouri boy who was given the formula became gravely ill with a suspected bacterial infection and died.

Seth Perlman / AP

More than 30 people become ill each year from eating raw or uncooked oysters contaminated with bacteria and nearly half of these people die, according to a report issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Scott Suchman / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Sept. 15, 2011

Bill Sackett stands next to cantaloupes that are not subject to the recent recall at his Rocky Ford, Colo., market. Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo., about 100 miles from Rocky Ford, has issued a recall of cantaloupe following a Listeria outbreak. On Sept. 27, health officials said that as many as 16 people have died from a possible link between the bacteria and Colorado cantaloupes. Listeria leads to fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal issues. If it spreads to the nervous system, those afflicted may experience headaches, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions.

Hyoung Chang / AP

Oct. 21, 2010

Four-year-old Zoe Warren of Bethesda was hospitalized in 2007 after contracting salmonella poisoning from a chicken pot-pie she ate.

Susan Biddle / For The Washington Post

Oct. 21, 2010

Zoe Warren from Bethesda has recovered from salmonella poisoning and is pictured here swinging between her parents Melissa and Ryan.

Susan Biddle / For The Washington Post

Aug. 28, 2009

Richard Rivera kisses his wife, Linda, after wiping her face at Kindred Hospital in Las Vegas. Linda Rivera, 57, was hospitalized in May 2009 after eating several spoonfuls of raw Nestle cookie dough. It was contaminated by E. coli, and she developed hemolytic uremic syndrome. She has suffered multiple organ failure and lost her ability to speak.

Marlene Karas

Sept. 22, 2010

Orland Bethel, the head of Hillandale Farms of Iowa, appeared before Congress during a hearing on egg recalls at his and another Iowa farm, but he would not testify. More than half a billion eggs were recalled because of salmonella-related illnesses, and the FDA traced the outbreak to Hillandale and Wright County Egg. Several health and safety violations were later found at the farms.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Sept. 22, 2010

Austin "Jack" DeCoster, the owner of Wright County Egg, told members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that he was "horrified" to learn that his products might have been the cause of the salmonella-related illnesses. His farm had long lacked sophisticated technology to combat the contamination, but he said that his company's methods had evolved and that it was using modern techniques before the salmonella outbreak. During the hearing, photos of conditions on the farm were shown: dead and live mice, mounds of manure and dead chickens in a heap.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Sept. 22, 2010

Carol Labato, left, testified at the House panel's hearing in September. She was hospitalized after eating a "rattlesnake cake," similar to a crab cake, that contained eggs from Wright County Egg. She still suffers from fatigue, indigestion and weight-loss issues. Sarah Lewis, right, also testified, telling members that she contracted salmonella from a custard dessert made with eggs from Wright County Egg . Her illness was "agony," she said. Both women filed suits against the company.

Melina Mara / The Washington Post

Feb. 11, 2009

Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corp. of America, leaves a House panel hearing on a salmonella outbreak blamed on his company. Federal investigators have accused it of knowingly selling peanut products, including peanut butter, tainted with salmonella bacteria. Hundreds fell ill, and at least nine died.

Kevin Clark / The Washington Post

July 25, 2008

A woman sells produce in Mexico City, from which a salmonella-tainted jalapeno made its way to Texas in 2008. Although some Mexican producers grow fruit and vegetables under strict sanitary conditions for export to the United States, growers and packing plants using unsanitary conditions can also easily send produce North because neither the United States nor the Mexican governments impose any safety requirements on farms and processing plants.

Gregory Bull / AP

Sept. 23, 2006

Corinne Swartz, left, of Hagerstown, Md., lost her mother, June Dunning, to an E. coli related illness. Dunning, 86, became ill several days after eating steamed spinach and died about two weeks later. Bagged spinach grown in California was found to be contaminated with E. coli, which killed several people and sickened hundreds across the nation. Pictured with Swartz is her husband, Warren.

Erick Gibson / Hagerstown Herald-Mail via AP

Sept. 23, 2006

Workers tend to a field of lettuce in front of Natural Selection Foods' plant in San Juan Bautista, Calif. The deadly E. coli outbreak in spinach products was linked to the company, which sells organic produce.

David Paul Morris / Getty Images

Oct. 13, 2006

Most of the nation's leafy greens are grown in California. Although bagged salads are washed in processing plants, some bacteria can remain.

Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

July 25, 2008

In 2008, a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas was found to contain a strain of salmonella. From that, more than 1,200 cases of food poisoning, some fatal, were confirmed, and the illnesses prompted recalls of fresh jalapenos, fresh pico de gallo and prepared items containing raw jalapenos.

Gregory Bull / AP

Jan. 29, 2009

Employees and inspectors said there were contaminated and filthy conditions at Peanut Corp. of America's processing facilities in Georgia, Texas and Virginia.

Ric Feld / AP

Jan, 18, 2008

Alyssa Chrobuck, who was hospitalized with E. coli during the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak, displays a few of the many medications she takes and a photo of her as a child in her hospital bed. Chrobuck has a host of unusual health problems that she says her doctors have attributed to her E. coli illness.

Elaine Thompson / AP

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Contaminated food: Anger, pain and death

A rash of contaminated food, from peanuts to eggs, has led to several deaths over recent years. A listeria outbreak earlier this year is thought to be the deadliest in more than a decade. Here’s a look at outbreaks of illness related to food that have hit the nation.

Featured Photo Galleries