The Honorable Bill Cassidy, M.D., ChairmanThe Honorable Bernie Sanders, Ranking MemberCommittee on Health, Education, Labor, and PensionsUnited States Senate428 Senate Dirksen Office BuildingWashington, DC 20510 Re: Finish what the Senate started — botulism in infant formula, the shared milk and powdered-milk supply behind two outbreaks, and the case for hearings and parent testimony Dear Chairman Cassidy, […]
In one of the boldest, yet boneheaded, moves I have ever seen in 15 years of litigating E. coli O157:H7 cases, after we sued it, Nebraska Beef filed a third party complaint against the Salem Lutheran Church of Longville, Minnesota claiming, among other things: That, upon information and belief, an environmental assessment of the church […]
When they are mixed together at ConAgra?* (hopefully, people recall the TV ads of a few years ago – "you have chocolate in my peanut butter.") UPDATE – Between January 1, 2007 and October 29, 2007, at least 272 isolates of Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- with an indistinguishable genetic fingerprint have been collected from ill persons […]
I’m a bit confused. Yesterday it was reported that Ranchers Beef Ltd (now out of business) was both the source of an E. coli outbreak in the United States that had sickened at least 40 tied to the consumption of Topps Meat (also out of business) AND 44 ill persons and 1 death in Canada. […]
More hamburger recalled: Recall Release CLASS I RECALL FSIS-RC-048-2007 HEALTH RISK: HIGH Del-Mar Provision Co., Inc., a Buffalo, N.Y., firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 50 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today. The product subject to […]
I was reading the St. Cloud Times and saw this small note about a completely preventable tragedy: Fundraiser for Stephanie Smith When: Noon-5 p.m., Nov. 4. Where: 103 River Oaks Drive (by Rocori High School on River Oaks Golf Course), Cold Spring. What: Stephanie Smith is a 20-year-old Rocori High School graduate and is the […]
I have been in Minneapolis the entire week working to resolve nearly 20 severe E. coli cases (HUS Illnesses) tied to last years Dole spinach E. coli outbreak and a few cases from this year involving E. coli contaminated meat. Late Friday night, after nearly the full week of negotiations, we were able to resolve […]
We filed two lawsuits today – one against Cargill on behalf of a Minnesota boy who became ill after eating an E. coli-contaminated hamburger and another on behalf of a Michigan man who became ill after eating a Salmonella-contaminated turkey pot pie. In the Minnesota case: According to the complaint, Scott Reber ate a hamburger […]
I spoke to Jeff Gold, AP writer, this afternoon during a break in mediations. His story, just hit the wire: Report: Topps Plant Reduced Inspections In the months before issuing a massive recall of its frozen hamburgers, Topps Meat Co. curtailed testing of ground beef and skipped other safeguards aimed at preventing contaminated meat from […]
I am in Minnesota this week working on resolving 10 severe HUS cases stemming from the 2006 Dole Spinach E. coli outbreak and investigating cases stemming from the PM Beef Holding and the more recent Cargill E. coli recall. Regarding the “hamburger issue,” the New York Times this morning wrote about the E. coli issue: […]
Well, for a food safety attorney, I was living a bit dangerously in Hong Kong a month ago. I swear I only ate one. According to Wikipedia, the century egg, also known as preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg and thousand-year-old egg is a Chinese cuisine ingredient made by preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs […]
From the October/November 2007 of Food Safety Magazine: Food Safety & the CEO – Keys to Bottom Line Success By William Marler (that’s me) Foodborne illness has, of course, been around as long as there has been food. But the identification and diagnosis of these diseases is an emerging science that is changing all sectors […]
Last week I called on Cargill (same applies to Sam’s Club) to pay the medical costs and wage loss of victims of the E. coli outbreak traced to the company’s frozen ground beef patties. Despite suing Cargill in Minnesota, it has been very quiet on taking responsibility. Cargill recalled nearly 1,000,000 pounds of frozen hamburger […]
A fellow blogger, the Fanatic Cook, both mentioned my Blog (thanks to Law Professor Blog) and the Safe Food Act of 2007. She has set up a Blog to track Congressional sponsors and a way to email those who have not yet to encourage sponsorship. We also just updated our Foodborne Illness site.
It was much easier to track the illnesses caused by Topps E. coli contaminated hamburger as there is a report on-line on the CDC website and the 21,000,000 pounds of hamburger recalled. No such luck with being able to see the same on the Cargill recall. Remember, Cargill recalled nearly 1,000,000 pounds of E. coli […]
Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157 Infections Linked to Topp’s Brand Ground Beef Patties CDC reports as of 12 PM (ET) October 18, 2007, 40 cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection have been identified with PFGE patterns that match at least one of the patterns of E. coli strains found in Topp’s brand frozen ground […]