UPDATE: The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is working with CDC to investigate a cluster of cases of E. coli 0145 infections. These cases were reported to public health and tested at the Georgia Public Health Laboratory, which was able to determine the molecular fingerprints of the isolates. Those molecular fingerprints are identical to […]
Dan Elliott 0f Denver AP and I spoke this morning for his story that went online a few moments ago – “Settlement talks under way in listeria lawsuits:” A settlement is in the works in lawsuits against a Colorado farm identified as the source of a nationwide listeria outbreak last fall that killed at least […]
Keoki’s Lau Lau, a Honolulu, HI establishment, is recalling approximately 400 pounds of a ready-to-eat pork product due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The following product is subject to recall: • 12 oz. tubs of “Keoki’s Kalua Brand Pork” • 48 […]
Karen Robinson-Jacobs of the Dallas Morning News jumped into the Listeria Cantaloupe case today with her story: Texas shipper in cantaloupe listeria case says it has no bankruptcy plans. I spoke to Ms. Robinson-Jacobs about the impact of the bankruptcy of the grower of the Listeria-tainted cantaloupes: A central issue in the case will be […]
There is a lot of Hepatitis A in the news over the last few months. The Wilkes County Health Department in the last week administered Hepatitis A vaccinations to 660 people after an employee of a local food establishment was diagnosed with the virus on May 13, said Debbie Nicholson, the department’s director of nursing. […]
I have nine seemigly happy heathly chickens in my backyard producing about 60 eggs a week. Are they Salmonella free? I guess it is about time to test. Today, according to the CDC a total of 93 persons infected with outbreak strains of Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Newport, and Salmonella Lille have been reported from 23 […]
MSNBC’s JoNel Aleccia reported this morning “Testing for new E. coli strains in beef finally to begin.” The move implements long-delayed federal regulations aimed at a group of E. coli bacteria collectively known as “the Big Six,” bugs capable of causing severe infection and death. Under the new rules, the six additional strains of E. coli […]
Food products now come to the United States from over 250,000 foreign establishments in 200 countries. Indeed, 15 percent of fruits, 20 percent of vegetables, and 80 percent of seafood come from overseas. And, with the consumption of imported foods growing, we have seen an increase in recalls and foodborne illness outbreaks linked to them. […]
Korean War veteran Clifford Tousignant served the United States of America for 22 years, earning three purple hearts along the way. In 2009, he died from eating Salmonella contaminated peanut butter. Mr. Tousignant was one of nine people who died and 714 who were sickened in a 2008/2009 Salmonella outbreak linked to Peanut Corporation of […]
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Paul Schwarz likely should have died during his service of his country, but he survived and became a father, grandfather, great-grandfather and a productive member of our country. In all respects he was an American […]
Today, Jensen Farms filed for Bankruptcy in Federal Court in Denver. As I said to the Denver Post: Victims’ attorney Bill Marler of Marler Clark in Seattle still hopes to bring Frontera, the auditors and retailers into a pool administered by the courts…. “For me, the bottom line is this is step one of a […]
Bill Marler has been litigating foodborne illness cases for nearly two decades. The key to his success has been to find a quick, reliable method of distinguishing between legitimate food poisoning claims and suspect ones. In his experience, the food industry—from farmer to retailer to restaurant—tends to overemphasize the specious claim and undervalue the legitimate […]
UPDATE – A salmonellosis outbreak linked to tempeh sold by an Asheville, N.C., company has grown by 5 cases, to 88, after a Rockville, Md., company issued a recall for imported “Tempeh Starter Yeast.” David Sweat, MPH, foodborne disease epidemiologist with the North Carolina Division of Public Health in Raleigh, told CIDRAP News today that, […]
When Smiling Hara Tempeh Managing Executive Chad Oliphant began buying starter culture used to make the popular bean product tempeh from Maryland-based Tempeh Online, he surely did not expect it to be contaminated with Salmonella (or anything else, for that matter). And, why should he? Like most people in his position, I imagine Mr. Oliphant […]
The demographics associated with this monumental outbreak, due in significant part to the propensity of Listeriosis to affect the elderly, have given us the opportunity to explore history. As you know, several of our clients were decorated for extraordinary actions in World War II. The story of Isaak Margolin, however—at least the story before the […]