CORTEZ — A Colorado man has sued Wal-Mart, saying he became sick from salmonella-tainted jalapeño peppers purchased at one of its stores.
The lawsuit filed Friday says Brian Grubbs of Dolores tested positive for salmonella after he was hospitalized for weakness, weight loss and severe dehydration.
It blames jalapeño peppers his family purchased at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cortez, about 200 miles southwest of Denver, about June 26.
The state health department said a jalapeño sold at that store about that time tested positive for salmonella, but department spokesman Jim Salley declined to say whether or not it was a pepper purchased by Grubbs.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Moore said that between June 24 and July 1 — when Grubbs said he bought the jalapeños — a Food and Drug Administration consumer advisory on salmonella focused only on tomatoes. She said Wal-Mart quickly removed “impacted products” after the FDA raised concerns about jalapeños.
