QDOBA Food Poisoning Lawsuit

The 2026 event involving QDOBA is a Salmonella outbreak. One other publicly documented QDOBA outbreak, in 2015, involved a rarer relative of the same bacteria.

Salmonella

Salmonella causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. CDC says symptoms usually start 6 hours to 6 days after infection and usually last 4 to 7 days. The diarrhea can be watery and may have blood or mucus in it, and the cramping can be severe. CDC also warns that Salmonella can leave the gut and spread to the blood, bones, joints, or the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

Typhoid Fever

Typhoid fever comes from a specific strain, Salmonella Typhi, and it behaves differently from ordinary food poisoning. It brings a sustained high fever, headache, and weakness rather than the sudden vomiting people expect, and it needs antibiotics. It is rare in the United States and usually connected to travel or to a carrier who spreads it without ever feeling sick.

At-Risk Groups

CDC identifies children under 5, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems as groups that can become more seriously ill. FDA says Salmonella symptoms can also be more severe during pregnancy. Get medical care for bloody diarrhea, a fever higher than 102°F (38.9°C), diarrhea lasting more than 3 days without improvement, or signs of dehydration.

If a laboratory confirmed a foodborne illness and you can tie it to food you ate at QDOBA, you may have a claim. Who that claim runs against depends on where the contamination entered the food, which is the central question in the 2026 outbreak.

Who May Be Responsible

A restaurant is not always where a contaminated ingredient came from. FDA traced the peppers in the 2026 outbreak to a grower in Sinaloa, Mexico and to Coast Citrus Distributors, the company that imported and distributed them. When an ingredient arrives contaminated, the grower, the importer, and the distributor may all be part of a claim alongside the restaurant that served it.

Corporate and Franchised Locations

QDOBA restaurants include both company-operated and franchised locations, and a franchisee is a separate business from the parent company. That affects who a claim names and sometimes which insurance applies. It's a question for your attorney to sort out, not something you need to figure out before you call.

Types of Compensation

A claim may seek medical bills, hospital costs, lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, and pain and suffering. Hospitalization or a lasting complication increases the losses a claim seeks to recover. Results vary by case, and no lawyer can promise an outcome.

No Fee Unless We Win

Ron Simon & Associates handles qualified food poisoning claims on a contingency fee basis. You pay our law firm nothing up front and nothing at all unless we recover compensation for you. Filing deadlines vary by state, so an early review helps preserve both the evidence and the deadline that applies to you.