“Poisoned”: The 6 most horrifying revelations from Netflix’s food safety documentary

In the documentary, Stephanie’s parents, Scott and Candie, recalled that their daughter fell sick before leaving for a family vacation to the Dominican Republic. Stephanie had gas and diarrhea, which her parents dismissed as an upset stomach. Her symptoms, however, worsened throughout the night, prompting her parents to seek medical help.

“The next morning when they let me go in to see her, she didn’t recognize me,” said Candie. “She was pulling at her hair . . . her kidneys had stopped functioning and she was having swelling of her brain.” Stephanie was eventually admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital in St. Louis where doctors discovered that she had Shiga toxin, which is produced by the dangerous E. coli O157:H7.

“This condition in her body was like a nuclear bomb exploding inside you, where it hits every single organ and you have to get in there and pick up the pieces,” explained Stephanie’s doctor, Dr. Pablo Dayer. 

Upon further investigation, Stephanie’s parents learned that their daughter had eaten a Panera Bread salad made with contaminated lettuce. Civil lawsuits were filed in the Circuit Court of St. Louis (MO) County on behalf of Stephanie and in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, on behalf of Brianna Ruocchio, who also suffered from severe HUS four days after eating a Panera salad. 

Stephanie ultimately came out of her coma and recovered from her illness, though she still struggles with medical complications and may need a kidney transplant one day.

“It took me a long time to rebuild my strength. My coma kind of knocked me out for the hardest parts, but I know there were moments that my family and my doctors didn’t think I was gonna make it through, which has been really hard on them, and it’s hard for me to know that I put them through that pain,” Stephanie said.

“I ate a salad, and now I have long-term health effects from it.”