Salmonella victims point to R.I. bakery

But this year, the beloved ritual went terribly awry. Two elderly people who ate baked goods from DeFusco’s Bakery in March died and more than 75 others developed symptoms suggestive of salmonella poisoning.

State inspectors found a host of health violations at the bakery, from gallons of pastry cream left unrefrigerated for hours to pastry shells stored in egg crates tainted with salmonella bacteria. It was most likely the shells, which had come into contact with the salmonella-infected eggs, that ignited the outbreak, disease detectives said. The state issued an immediate recall of the bakery’s goods, and the shop agreed to close its two locations immediately.

In a town where almost half the population claims Italian descent, the holiday outbreak, the largest to hit Rhode Island in recent years, was an especially cruel development.

“These were gross health violations, literally and figuratively,’’ said Annemarie Beardsworth, spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Now, a number of those who were sickened, and in many cases hospitalized, after eating the doughnut-like treats have retained a lawyer, and one of those who fell ill has sued the bakery, saying it was negligent in selling contaminated food and failing to comply with health codes.

William D. Marler, a Seattle lawyer who litigates cases of food-borne illness, said his firm is representing 18 people who were sickened by eating the holiday pastries, many of whom are elderly and still recovering from the infection, which causes nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

“A lot of these people are in retirement centers,’’ Marler said. “They are the most vulnerable population imaginable. The elderly really take salmonella illness hard. Their bodies just don’t have the immune system.’’

One client, a woman in her early 80s, remains hospitalized, he said.

Marler said the outbreak was unusual because bakeries are not considered at high risk for salmonella, and most of those who fell sick had been buying zeppole from the bakery each March for years.

“They’ve been doing it for a long time,’’ he said. “That’s what shocks everybody.’’

Marler said the bakery does not appear to have liability insurance, which he called “irresponsible,’’ and it may declare bankruptcy. Its Cranston location opened in 2001, and its Johnston store opened in 2009.

“With this many people sick, you’re looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills and lost wages,’’ he said.

While most of those hospitalized by the illness were elderly, the salmonella strain was potent enough to sicken a teenage football player for days, he said.

The teenager’s mother, Erin Carrera of Rehoboth, said in the suit that her son fell ill on St. Joseph’s Day (March 19) after eating zeppole. His symptoms worsened over the next week until he required medical care, when he tested positive for salmonella. The civil suit, filed in Rhode Island Superior Court, seeks unspecified damages.

In mid-April, the state ordered the bakery to remain closed until the violations are fixed. The bakery’s phone number has been temporarily disconnected, and the bakery’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.

The outbreak was discovered March 25 when a nursing home in Warwick reported that 15 residents and two staff members had fallen ill. Investigators discovered that all had eaten zeppole from DeFusco’s to commemorate St. Joseph’s Day, and the store owners closed the bakery the same day.

Over the next week, the state received dozens of similar reports of salmonella symptoms, and all but one person had eaten zeppole from DeFusco’s, which supplied the pastries to other bakeries and catered events for the holiday. DeFusco’s also had a retail store in Cranston, but health officials said the contaminated pastries all came from the Johnston store.

On March 23, a man in his 80s who ate a DeFusco’s pastry on the holiday died, and a man in his 90s who had also indulged in the baked goods died in April. Both tested positive for salmonella and had underlying health conditions, state officials said.

Of the 79 people who fell ill, 30 were hospitalized, an unusually large proportion, Beardsworth said. In nearly 50 cases, the state confirmed salmonella poisoning. No cases have been reported for about two weeks.

Unannounced state inspections before the outbreak, including one in December, did not find serious violations, Beardsworth said. But the most recent review, conducted March 25, found nine. The hand sink in the bathroom did not have running water, and employees reported washing their hands in a three-bay sink without soap or paper towels. The staff failed to sanitize equipment and utensils after washing them, and left calzones filled with deli meats and cheeses unrefrigerated.

Even worse, Beardsworth said, pastry cream filling used for the zeppole and eclairs was tested at a temperature of 125 degrees. “That’s a breeding ground for bacteria,’’ she said.

The violations have spurred calls for more aggressive oversight.

There are just seven health food specialists responsible for inspecting 8,000 food establishments, state officials said.

Beardsworth said 2,186 establishments were inspected last year, but some restaurants could go uninspected for two or three years.

At DeFusco’s, part of a shopping plaza next to a residential neighborhood, cardboard covered the windows, although a weathered sign still promised it was open daily.

Just up the hill, an elderly woman who declined to identify herself left a market with two loaves of Italian bread in hand. She had eaten DeFusco’s zeppole for past St. Joseph’s Days, but this year it slipped her mind. Thankfully, as it turned out.

“I think I’ll be skipping them from now on,’’ she said.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.