A salmonella outbreak cost a firm $3.5 million.

The outbreak, which made thousands of Midwesterners sick, cost American Stores $3.5 million, the company said. The costs included closing its Jewel subsidiary’s Hillfarm Dairy in Melrose Park, Ill., American Stores said. Jewel was acquired by American Stores last November. The salmonella outbreak, first reported March 29, affected an estimated 17,000 people in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. The source was believed to be contaminated milk from Hillfarm Dairy, which Jewel voluntarily closed April 9.