Food Law Prof Blog

$100 million lawsuit filed in E coli case

Yesterday (Friday, 12/4/09) Bill Marler filed a lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages for Stephanie Smith, the 22 year old dancer left paralyzed after eating a burger tainted with E. coli 0157:H7.

Read about the lawsuit in the St. Paul Pioneer Press (my home town newspaper).

Read about it on Marler Blog, Bill Marler's own food poisoning law blog:

This morning’s papers across the United States are covered with paralyzed, former dancer, Stephanie Smith’s battle against food giant, Cargill. Cargill’s hamburger, sold at Wal-Mart, nearly killed Stephanie with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, and has left her, with brain damage, with failing kidneys, with no bowel or bladder control, and facing a life confined to a bed or a wheel chair. Despite her hard work, Stephanie will not dance again. As I type this in my kitchen, my three daughters are helping my wife decorate the Christmas tree. Like you, I cannot imagine seeing one of them in Stephanie’s condition – from eating a hamburger.

Poultry Purity

First Consumer Reports reported that most store-bought broilers are contaminated with Campylobacter or Salmonella, the two most common sources of food poisoning:

Campylobacter was in 62 percent of the chickens, salmonella was in 14 percent, and both bacteria were in 9 percent. Only 34 percent of the birds were clear of both pathogens. That's double the percentage of clean birds we found in our 2007 report but far less than the 51 percent in our 2003 report.

The National Chicken Council says the findings are overblown:

Chicken is safe. Like all fresh foods, raw chicken may have some microorganisms present, but these are destroyed by the heat of normal cooking. Consumers are encouraged to follow the safe handling and cooking instructions printed on every package of fresh meat and poultry sold in this country.

According to Reuters, USDA reports lower levels of contamination, but Consumers Union tested products further along in the retail chain.

Now that you've eaten your turkey: Poison-free Poultry Act of 2009

A bill introduced Wednesday would ban the use of arsenic-containing poultry feed. Read about it on Food Safety News:

U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) introduced legislation Wednesday to ban the use of the an arsenical compound used in animal production.

The Poison-Free Poultry Act of 2009, or H.R. 3624, would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ban roxarsone, an arsenical antimicrobial drug used to ward off infection in industrial swine and poultry production.

 

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The bill itself is available here: HR 3624

FDA Seeks Permanent Injunction Against Sharkco Seafood International Inc.

FDA News Release:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking a permanent injunction against Sharkco Seafood International Inc., located in Venice, La. The injunction is intended to stop the seafood processing company from distributing scombrotoxin-forming fish in interstate commerce. Consumption of scombrotoxin-forming fish that are not properly preserved or refrigeratedcan result in scombroid food poisoning, a foodborne illness that results from eating spoiled or decayed fish. Scombrotoxin-forming fish most commonly include mackerel, sardines, tuna, bluefish, and mahi mahi.

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Cargill Canola Stopped at Border (from Food Safety News)

Cargill Canola Stopped At Border By FDA

by Dan Flynn | Nov 17, 2009

It is not too far-fetched to say that trainloads of canola oil manufactured at Cargill Limited's seed processing facility at Clavet, Saskatchewan are being turned back at the border by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

October's "import refusal report" by FDA shows three Cargill canola oil shipments being turned back on Oct. 12 and then another 14 shipments via the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad being stopped on Oct. 30.  It was to be used for animal feed in the U.S.

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Click on the link to keep reading.  The canola was refused because of possible Salmonella contamination.  This caught my eye because I was on a panel on Importation issues just last month for the Minnesota State Bar Association Food and Drug Law Section. 

FDA/CFSAN: New Report Recommends Enhanced Food Tracing Guidelines

From an FDA Press Announcement (Nov 14, 2009):

The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) today released a report from the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), which recommends clear objectives be set for all users of a simpler, globally accepted food supply chain that can benefit from existing commercial systems.

CFSAN commissioned the IFT report in 2008 as part of the agency's ongoing examination of food product tracing practices, and its commitment to improve the ability of government and industry to trace commercially distributed food products potentially of risk to U.S. consumers. The IFT is a nonprofit scientific society focusing on the science of food.

Food can become contaminated at many different steps in the supply chain. Experience in conducting foodborne disease outbreak investigations suggests that improved product tracing abilities could help identify products associated with disease more quickly, get risky products off the market faster, and reduce the number of illnesses associated with foodborne illness outbreaks.

Read more of the FDA Press Announcement

Read IFT's own discussion of the study: Tactics for Improving Food Product Traceability

I am a member of the Institute of Food Technologists.  It does indeed focus on the science of food, primarily of course, the science of processed foods, but it also focuses very much on the marketing of processed foods. The monthly magazine, Food Technology, is beautiful and fascinating.

FDA Grants to Further Food and Feed Safety

FDA New Release, Oct. 9, 2009:

FDA Awards $17.5 Million in Grants to Further Food and Feed Safety

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it has awarded 83 grants in FY2009 totaling $17.5 million to state and local regulatory agencies to boost food and feed safety initiatives among federal, state, and local partners.

The grants fund major cooperative agreements in four major areas: response, intervention, innovation and prevention.

"These cooperative agreements support and enhance local food safety efforts," said Michael Chappell, the FDA's acting associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. "The grants are another step in the FDA’s continuing efforts to build an integrated food safety system between federal, state, and local partners."

The grants and their recipients include:  (Click here to go to the FDA website to read the rest.)

Hamburg: Need stronger food safety bill

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg addressed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this week.  The full text of her testimony is available on the FDA's website. 

Keeping America's Families Safe: Reforming the Food Safety System

. . .From FDA’s perspective, there are three key questions to ask about food safety legislation:  

• First, does the legislation refocus the system to place greater emphasis on prevention? 
• Second, does the legislation provide FDA the legal tools necessary to match its existing and new food safety responsibilities?  
• Third, does the legislation provide or anticipate resources for the Agency to match its responsibilities?  

I will focus on S. 510 for a discussion of these questions.  I will address each of these three questions in turn and highlight a few of the many important authorities in this bill.

Does the legislation support a new food safety system focused on prevention?

The legislation would indeed transform FDA’s approach to food safety from a system that far too often responds to outbreaks rather than prevents them.  It would do so by requiring and then holding companies accountable for understanding the risks to the food supply under their control and then implementing effective measures to prevent contamination. . . .

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Anatomy of a Burger

Seems like the news is all about contaminated meat.  This is part of the New York Times spread on Stephanie Smith's case of HUS from eating E coli O157:H7 contaminated burgers.

Click here to see a graphic showing the sources of meat that went into the burger she ate, along with a summary of the food safety practices of each supplier.

This patty was made by the food giant Cargill, which recalled 844,812 pounds of ground beef on Oct. 6, 2007, after an estimated 940 people were sickened, including Stephanie Smith, 22, of Cold Spring, Minn.

Hamburger Confidential -- NYT video showing "safe" food handling

I'm tossing kitchen towels in the wash daily from here on!  Yuck. 

Watch this video:  Hamburger Confidential, in which a reporter and an editor do everything right and way more carefully than I ever do, and still end up with E. coli in the kitchen.

Can consumers prevent cross-contamination by simply following directions on a package of ground beef?

NYT: E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection

Two people sent me this article.  There's also a video:

 

 

 

 

By MICHAEL MOSS

Published: October 3, 2009

Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes.

Then her diarrhea turned bloody. Her kidneys shut down. Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed.

Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007.

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See the video, Tainted Meat, (above or on the NYT website)  about E. coli and Stephanie Smith.  Bill Marler is interviewed at about 3:55.

USDA Joins FDA Efforts on New Food Safety Regulations

 FDA AND AMS NEWS RELEASE:

USDA Joins FDA Efforts on New Food Safety Regulations
Agencies Unite on Outreach to Produce Industry

USDA’s fresh produce chief will join FDA to help develop new food safety rules, as part of a cooperative initiative between FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Today’s announcement comes amid beefed up outreach efforts with key agriculture and safe food stakeholders to better share and exchange produce safety “best practices” and ideas.

Leanne Skelton, chief of the Fresh Products Branch of the USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS), has extensive experience working with the fruit and vegetable industry. Skelton has been with the Fresh Products Branch at AMS for more than 22 years, working in inspections, grading and certification, standardization, training, and managing the Branch’s financial and information technology activities. Skelton will be on detail with the FDA for six months as she helps the FDA develop new safety regulations for produce.

“President Obama, like most Americans, wants immediate improvements in our food safety system,” said Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “As such, we are pulling together all our best resources -state and federal - to improve the safety of our foods and to work with growers protect and promote the health of our nation.”

“USDA is committed to working with our partners to ensure that Americans have access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.  “Today’s announcement is another example the Obama Administration’s innovative and aggressive effort to strengthen protections against unsafe food and food-borne illness.”

Through the initiative, FDA is gathering information and seeking feedback from the fresh produce industry, including small and organic farmers, on the impact such rules may have on their businesses and lives. In addition, USDA and FDA officials have been traveling together to meet with farmers and local food safety officials. Most recently, FDA and USDA visited farms in North Carolina and will soon visit Florida.

"We are delighted that the FDA sought USDA’s counsel and cooperation as they tackle the challenges of ensuring the safety and availability of fresh produce and healthy foods,” said AMS Administrator Rayne Pegg. “The USDA and the FDA have joined together on listening sessions and farm tours, and are eager to develop a system of regulation that will work for American families and the growers.”

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg iterated the agency’s commitment to listen and learn from all those with a role in protecting the safety of the food system.

"It is vitally important for us to hear ideas, concerns, and experiences directly from local growers around the country as we develop rules to help protect the safety of fresh produce from the farm to the table,” she said. “We will be that much more effective by working closely with farmers, our USDA partners and with state and local food safety agencies."

The detail and the joint outreach efforts further underscore the two agency's commitment to work cooperatively on food safety.

FDA 101: Product Recalls (Video)

Here's another of the FDA's new consumer update videos.  This one is about recalls.  Cute doggie at 22 seconds.

When an FDA-regulated product is defective or potentially harmful, removing it from the market may be necessary. In this Consumer Update video, FDA Recall Operations Team Leader Armando Zamora, explains how FDA manages product recalls.

FDA Video Update on Food Allergies

FDA has posted a series of videos for consumers.  Here's the one on Food Allergies:

  Food Allergies: Reducing the Risks (video)

Food allergies can range from merely irritating to life-threatening. FDA is working to ensure that major allergenic ingredients in food are accurately labeled. In this Consumer Update video Felicia Billingslea, FDA Director of Food Labeling and Standards, provides tips to help prevent allergic reactions and explains the difference between food allergies and food intolerance.

Put a trial lawyer out of business

Bill Marler (Marlerblog.com) is presenting T-shirts to Senators:

(That's Marler in the circle.)

Also in an effort to convince Congress of the need for Food Safety Legislation, Marler asked us to post the video below.  It's the story of a little girl who died of illness linked to a ground beef recall because of E. coli O157:H7. 

Caution: tear-jerker

USDA to Hold Facebook Chat on Local Food

USDA is on Facebook, and you can become a fan.  Not only that, they're having a live chat:

The next Live Facebook Chat will take place on Thursday, October 1 at 3:45 pm ET with Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan to talk about local food systems.

Read about this on Food Safety News.

Go to the USDA website page on the Facebook chat.

E coli O157:H7 from produce yet again?

From Food Safety News:

It appears that fresh produce may once again be responsible for a new outbreak of the dreaded E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in Utah, Colorado, and New York, Food Safety News has learned. . . .

. . . sources close to the investigation say lettuce from a California supplier is the likely culprit.

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Yike! I just came through Denver on my way to Laramie, Wyoming.  Maybe I'll skip the salad tonight at dinner.

Wisconsin Campylobacter Outbreak Linked to Raw Milk

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture press release:

Pronunciation note: CAM puh lo bak ter juh JOO nee

MADISON -- DNA test results and other evidence have now established that an outbreak of illness involving at least 35 people, the majority children and teens, was linked to drinking unpasteurized milk. Wisconsin food safety officials are cautioning consumers not to drink raw milk and farmers not to sell it to the public.

"Laws requiring pasteurization of milk have been on the books for more than half a century, and there are good public health reasons for that," said Steve Ingham, head of the Food Safety Division in the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

"We have very compelling evidence linking these illnesses to drinking raw milk. This is the third major outbreak in Wisconsin since 2001 that has been tied to raw milk consumption. That's not to mention a number of smaller ones in which the link was strongly suspected, but patients were unwilling to identify farms that provided the milk. So far we've been fortunate that the infections have not been life-threatening, but raw milk is an inherently risky food and it can lead to other, more dangerous illnesses, including E. coli 0157:H7 infection."

Click here  to read the full press release

Read more on this outbreak on Food Poisoning Law Blog (published by PritzkerOlsen law firm)

Read more on the raw milk debate on MarlerBlog (published by Bill Marler of Marler Clark law firm)

Read more on the raw milk debate on RealMilk.com (published by the Weston A. Price Foundation)

House and Senate Food Safety Bills

Bill Marler has prepared a useful comparison of HR 2749, The Food Safety Enhancement Act, passed by the House, and S. 510, The Food Safety Modernization Act, under consideration in the Senate.  The comparison appears on Food Safety News:

Food Safety Acts Compared: HR 2749 vs. S 510
by Bill Marler | Sep 14, 2009

Shortly before the summer recess, the House overwhelmingly passed HR 2749 - The Food Safety Enhancement Act. The Senate may now either adopt the House version, or S 510 - The Food Safety Modernization Act. Both Acts have similar goals; however, the real question is whether they will succeed achieving their goals, and by what means each bill will seek success. . . .

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New website: Food Safety News

Kudos to Marler Clark for launching a promising and informative new website.  Food Safety News is a news site rather than a blog (Bill Marler's MarlerBlog is still going strong too).  The site has reporters who are not lawyers, as well as contributed articles by lawyers and others.  I've added it to my favorites bar, I like it that much. 

Food Safety News  (FSN) is a daily online newspaper dedicated to covering food safety news--all the news that's fit to eat!  FSN writers will be reporting on everything from foodborne illness outbreaks to food politics to international food safety policy. We have bureaus in Seattle, Denver, and Washington, DC and have invited contributors from government, industry, academia, and consumer groups to share their viewpoints on food safety-related issues. It's a one-stop shop for all things food safety.