Minnesota family sues ConAgra over tainted pot pie

(AP) - A Minnesota couple sued ConAgra Foods Inc. Thursday for selling the pot pies they believe made their young daughter ill with salmonella.

The federal lawsuit Amy and Joshua Reinert of Sauk Rapids, Minn., filed in St. Paul, Minn., is the first one related to this week's announcement that ConAgra's Banquet and generic pot pies had been linked to a salmonella outbreak.

The company recalled all its pot pies Thursday and warned customers not to eat any of its pot pies and to throw them away. ConAgra is offering refunds.

Amy Reinert said her daughter Isabelle continued to have diarrhea for nearly six weeks after she initially became ill in August at the age of 19 months.

An ambulance took the youngest of the Reinerts' three children to the emergency room on Aug. 18 after she had a seizure and lost consciousness.

"That was the worst thing I've ever experienced as a parent," Amy Reinert said. "It was horrible."

A few days later, doctors told the Reinerts that Isabelle had salmonella, but it wasn't until this week - after countless interviews with health officials - that the family learned what caused the illness.

Isabelle's salmonella matched the strain of the illness that health officials have linked to at least 165 cases of salmonella in 31 states.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 30 people have been hospitalized as part of the ongoing outbreak, but so far no deaths have been linked to the pot pies.

ConAgra officials have said some of the illnesses may be linked to undercooked pot pies, but a ConAgra spokeswoman said the pot pies should not be eaten even if consumers think they have cooked them correctly.

The company is revising the cooking directions on its pot pie packages to clarify how long the pies should be cooked in different microwaves.

Currently, the Banquet pot pie package advises consumers to cook the product for 4 minutes in a medium or high wattage microwave or for 6 minutes in a low wattage microwave. But the package doesn't say how to determine what defines a low, medium or high wattage microwave.

Amy Reinert said she always cooked the pot pies longer than that. She cooked them for 7 minutes in the microwave and the put them in the oven for 10 minutes to make the crust crispy.

The lawyer who is handling the Reinerts' lawsuit, Bill Marler, has criticized ConAgra's decision not to immediately recall the product. Marler, of Seattle-based law firm Marler Clark, handles many food-borne illness cases.

The lawsuit asks the court to order ConAgra to pay all of Isabelle Reinert's past and future medical bills related to her salmonella illness and pay the family more than $75,000 in damages.

Amy Reinert said she was bothered by the company's response.

"I was just so upset and concerned that they seemed to be taking this so lightly," Amy Reinert said.

Salmonella sickens about 40,000 people a year in the U.S. and kills about 600. Most of the deaths are among people with weaker immune systems such as the elderly or very young.

Salmonella poisoning can cause diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. Most cases are caused by undercooked eggs and chicken.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)