Salmonella Lawsuit filed by Marler Clark

On June 27, 2025, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department (LFCHD) initiated an investigation into an outbreak of Salmonella. Initially reported cases were interviewed to see what food items they consumed prior to their illness. It was discovered that each case had eaten at least one meal at different Ramsey’s Diner locations—Helmsdale Place, Lucille Dr., Old Harrodsburg Rd., and Zandale Dr. (formerly East High St.)—between June 17 and 20, 2025. While the entrée items differed, each case consumed a custard-based pie, topped with meringue, or a cheesecake dessert. Patrons were advised to discard the remainder of any pie purchased from Missy’s or Ramsey’s Diner in July 2025. 

A confirmed case was defined as a culture-positive case of Salmonella (serotype Enteritidis, if typed) that either reported exposure to a Ramsey’s Diner location or a dessert item from Missy’s Pies prior to symptom onset, OR a case of Salmonella Enteritidis with an isolate related to the outbreak strain, within 0-2 alleles by cgMLST, with onset or specimen collection date ranging from May 23, 2025 to July 13, 2025.

A probable case was defined as a CIDT-positive case of Salmonella that either reported exposure to a Ramsey’s Diner location or a dessert item from Missy’s Pies prior to symptom onset, OR a clinically-compatible case (symptomatic with diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, etc.) with an epi-link (exposure to a Ramsey’s Diner location or a dessert item from Missy’s Pies prior to symptom onset) to identified outbreak-associated cases, with onset date ranging from May 23, 2025 to July 13, 2025.The final count included 68 total cases (28 confirmed, 40 probable). Most cases (63) were from Kentucky, although three were from Ohio, one from Massachusetts, and one from Florida. For cases with information, 46 (68%) were female. Onset dates ranged from June 7, 2025 to July 1, 2025. Ten cases reported hospitalization and no cases reported death. Thirty cases provided a specimen for testing, of which two were PCR positive for Salmonella and 28 were positive for specifically Salmonella Enteritidis.

The outbreak strain was identified as Salmonella Enteritidis. This investigation has been assigned to outbreak number KY25-345 and the multistate code 2507KYJEG-1. LFCHD worked with Ramsey’s and Missy’s Pies to discard any pies that were still onsite. Samples of pies and eggs were collected for testing to be completed by the state public health laboratory. The investigation determined that the desserts were produced at a single bakery with unpasteurized eggs from a single farm location. The wholesale distributor had recently started supplying eggs from a local farm in May 2025. The investigation also included a state manufacturing follow-up at Clem’s Refrigerated Foods, and a state and FDA follow-up (inspection and environmental sampling) at MapleCrest Farms. DLS performed testing on eggs and pies held from Missy’s Pies 7/1/25, but all samples resulted in “No Salmonella Isolated”. It was noted that the meringue on desserts was not brought to proper cooking temperature (July 1 temperature check was at 150F) without a consumer advisory. Desserts were cooled at room temperature, then transported on a non-refrigerated truck, and finally held at room temperature at the restaurants for several hours prior to refrigeration. A thorough cleaning of the common kitchen where pies were prepared was completed and the establishment was allowed to return to operations to prepare lower risk items such as shelf stable fruit pies and other pies which do not have eggs as ingredients for fillings.

The source of the outbreak was confirmed to be egg-related desserts by Missy’s Pies at Ramsey’s Diner. The outbreak was declared over on July 13, 2025.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.