Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark : Marler Blog

Local Virginia News reported that a family of a 10-year-old Boy Scout who got sick after eating hamburger tainted with E. coli bacteria is suing the company that supplied the meat.  The lawsuit filed by Jansen Saunders and his parents against S&S Foods alleges 84 people were sickened by tainted meat at the Boy Scout camp near Goshen, and the company should assist affected families.  The suit filed Friday in Rockbridge County Circuit Court says Jansen became ill July 25 and tested positive for E. coli infection while hospitalized.

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Had a long chat yesterday with Contra Costa reporter Larry Mitchell about the loophole around Tri-tips. The full story is at “Lawyer says meat poses E. coli risk.”

Some outbreaks of illness caused by E. coli can be blamed on a rule allowing tainted meat to be sold, a Seattle attorney claimed Tuesday.

William Marler, whose law firm specializes in food-borne illness, said he's tried to get the federal government to change its rule but to no avail.

Marler said he tracks outbreaks of E. coli and similar illnesses around the nation and has kept an eye on the situation in Forest Ranch, where 27 people became ill after eating food at a Sept. 6 fundraiser for the volunteer fire department. All signs point to tri-tip served at the event as causing the illness, according to the Butte County Public Health Department.

E. coli bacteria is all around and most of it's harmless, Marler said in a phone interview. However, a strain that appeared a number of years ago, E. coli 0157:H7, can be deadly. Found in the intestines and feces of cattle, this bacteria can contaminate meat, he said.

After a major outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 in the early 1990s, the federal government moved to regulate the meat industry but only partially succeeded, he said. A compromise was made, involving the "intact cut of meat rule."

According to this rule, he said, hamburger can't be sold if it contains E. coli 0157:H7. But so-called "intact cuts" of meat, such as tri-tip, can be sold containing the bacteria. The rationale for the rule is that hamburger will be squeezed into patties, and contaminated meat on the outside might end up in the middle of the burger, where it might not be cooked long enough to kill any bacteria. But with solid meat, the thinking goes, any bacteria will remain on the outside and definitely be killed in cooking.
In fact, things don't work that way, Marler said, because some intact cuts get contaminated by being tenderized with needles, and some solid meat is turned into hamburger after it leaves the packing plant.

Marler said this policy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is "indefensible" and must be changed. But change seems unlikely because the beef industry's lobby is so powerful, he added.

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The Butte County California Public Health Department (BCPHD), announced today the number of identified E. coli O157:H7 cases has grown to 24 and more are probable as the investigation into the outbreak continues.

Four have been hospitalized.  Six-year-old Olivia Geiger-Titus has developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.  She along with 23 other contracted E. coli poisoning at a fundraiser for volunteer firefighters in Forest Ranch. Olivia, who is a first grade student at Forest Ranch Charter School, has been closely monitored by doctors at U.C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.  She was taken there by helicopter last Thursday from Enloe Hospital in Chico.   On Monday, Olivia underwent a four-hour blood transfusion in an effort to get her kidneys functioning properly again.  Her grandmother says Olivia is too weak to hold a crayon or lift her head.   All from eating a E. coli-tainted Tri-tip.

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Arrived in Beijing Sunday night in a heavy rain storm.  Did, however, have time to drag a few friends to a Houtong-located night spot - Cafe Sambal.  I had the curry - and beers.  The food was superb, but we were forced to huddle inside as the plastic roof did not hold up to the rain.  For those who know me, and the friends I took, let me say the place was a bit "rustic."

It is big news this morning (its actually the 22nd) – not that I am in China – but that melamine-tainted food for children is becoming a bigger and bigger problem for children around the world and the Chinese Government.  Now, Singapore has found traces of the toxic chemical (best know for poisoning US pets last year) in Chinese-made dairy product as a scandal over tainted milk spreads across Asia and Africa.  Samples of White Rabbit-brand Creamy Candy imported from China are also contaminated with melamine.

Authorities in Hong Kong and at least three African countries on Friday suspended the sale and import of all Chinese milk and dairy products.  The ban includes milk, ice cream, yogurt, chocolate, biscuits and candy, as well as any other products containing milk from China as an ingredient.

So far four babies in China have died and 6,300 sickened with 1,500 hospitalized and nearly 200 with acute kidney failure.

I may need to change my PowerPoint a bit for my upcoming speech (I have been warned by the Government to play nice already).  With the recall spreading throughout Asia and Africa, what will the US do?  That's right, the FDA only inspects less that 1% of our imports.  Even though I have not yet been able to export lawsuits to China - yet (although, its product liability laws have potential), I bet I will have plenty of work upon my return to the US.  I'm off to the Forbidden City.

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Oklahoma State health investigators have confirmed that at least 248 people have become ill as a result of the E. coli O111 outbreak in Northeastern Oklahoma.  Of that number, 202 were adults and 46 were children.  A Pryor man, Chad Ingle, died.  At least 64 people were hospitalized, including 16 who received kidney dialysis treatment.  Of that number, nine were children and seven were adults.  Investigators said the number of reported cases and hospitalizations may change as state investigators continue their investigation into the source of the outbreak.  The common denominator is the Cottage Grove restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma.

To date the water in the well used at the restaurant has tested negative for E. coli O111, as has both the surfaces of the restaurant and left over food - REMEMBER - all were tested at least a week or more after people dined at the restaurant.

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"Victims all over the country are suffering because of the breakdown of our meat supply safety system," said the plaintiffs' attorney William Marler. "Everyone deserves pathogen-free meat in restaurants, grocery stores and summer camp."

William D. Marler

A Boy Scout infected by E. coli while attending camp in Goshen filed suit Friday in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County. The lawsuit -- filed on behalf of Zachary Yost and his mother, Devon Drew -- names S & S Foods LLC as the defendant. In August, more than 80 people at a Boy Scout camp near Goshen were infected with E. coli. Yost attended the camp from July 20-26. The outbreak was linked to hamburger meat manufactured and sold by S & S Foods of California. The company recalled more than 150,000 pounds of meat.
 

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A Boy Scout who was infected by E. coli O157:H7 while attending camp in Virginia filed suit today in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Zachary Yost and his mother, Devon Drew, against S & S Foods LLC. The plaintiffs are represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness, and Maryland attorney Benson Klein of Ward & Klein.

In August 2008, 84 people at a Boy Scout camp near Goshen, Virginia were infected with a highly toxic form of E. coli, the O157:H7 strain. The outbreak was traced to hamburger meat manufactured and sold by S & S Foods of California. Zachary Yost attended the camp from July 20 through July 26. Yost ate hamburger meat while at camp, and fell ill on July 26. He experienced cramping, nausea, and diarrhea, which by July 29 became bloody. In the process of receiving medical care, he tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. S & S hamburger meat at the camp also tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, and the company recalled more than 150,000 pounds of meat.

“There has been a record amount of E. coli-tainted meat recalled in the last year and a half,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney William Marler. “Unfortunately, that has meant that that there have also been a record number of E. coli illnesses. Victims all over the country are suffering because of the breakdown of our meat supply safety system. Everyone deserves pathogen-free meat—in restaurants, grocery stores, and summer camp!”

E. coli is often contracted by consuming food or beverage that has been contaminated by animal (especially cattle) manure. The majority of food borne E. coli outbreaks has been traced to contaminated ground beef; however leafy vegetables that have been contaminated in fields or during processing have been increasingly identified as the source of outbreaks, as have unpasteurized milk and cheese, unpasteurized apple juice and cider, alfalfa and radish sprouts, orange juice, and even water. There have also been outbreaks associated with petting zoos and agricultural fairs.

“Zachary has yet to test free of E. coli,” continued Marler. “His body is still fighting the infection, and restricting what he can do. Meat companies need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the effects their tainted products have on consumers.”
 

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On July 16th, 2008 the Connecticut Department of Agriculture began an investigation of a possible link between several reported illnesses and the consumption of Retail Raw Milk (unpasteurized milk).  Recently we concluded that investigation. The investigation was prompted when the Department was notified by Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) Epidemiologists of 2 reported illnesses in which both patients had consumed Retail Raw Milk from a dairy licensed to produce Retail Raw Milk and pasteurized milk and milk products. The patients were aged 2 and 7, one was on dialysis. After notifying the dairy of the investigation, the dairy voluntarily stopped sale of all milk. Soon after the initial 2 reported illnesses, DPH reported 2 additional cases linked to the dairy. By the time we concluded our investigation a total of 7 known individuals were sickened from consuming Retail Raw Milk and several were hospitalized. The Retail Raw Milk implicated in this incident was purchased from 2 separate national, natural food, chain store locations and directly from the farm. None of the reported illnesses were linked to pasteurized milk and milk products produced at this dairy.

The individuals sickened had acquired a condition known as Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and one case of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP). HUS is a disorder that occurs when an infection in the digestive system produces toxic substances that destroy red blood cells. It often effects the kidneys. This disorder is most common in children. It often occurs after a gastrointestinal (enteric) infection, often caused by a type of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, O157:H7.  Unpasteurized (Raw) milk has been associated with several outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the U.S. Other outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 have been associated with undercooked or raw hamburger (ground beef), unpasteurized fruit juices, alfalfa sprouts, dry-cured salami, lettuce, game meats and from transmission from animals to humans from contact with infected animals. HUS also can be caused by other enteric infections, including Shigella and Salmonella, and some non-enteric infections. Patients with TTP have clinical and pathologic features similar to patients with HUS.

In addition to Department of Agriculture staff, the investigation involved the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments. After extensive testing of milk, milk contact surfaces, water sources, the environment in and around the farm and processing plant and, analysis of feces from each milking aged animal, the department obtained a genetic fingerprint match between E. coli O157:H7 recovered from the feces of 1 cow and E. coli O157:H7 isolated from 3 patients.

Approximately 170 separate samples and specimens of milk, water, feces and swabs of milk contact surfaces were analyzed by the DPH Public Health Laboratory in a 3 week period. A review of scientific literature reveals that E. coli O157:H7 as well as other food borne pathogens most likely are introduced into milk by contamination from animals shedding the organism in their feces. Direct introduction of pathogens into the milk from the bloodstream is unlikely but can not be ruled out. The department has concluded that the most likely cause of this food borne illness outbreak was the consumption of Retail Raw Milk contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. While good sanitation and management practices can lower the incidence of pathogens in raw milk we believe and studies support the position that pasteurization is the only proven way to eliminate pathogens from raw milk.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Food and Drug Administration, and other public health authorities such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the Association of Food and Drug Officials, and National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians all oppose the consumption of unpasteurized milk because of the health risks.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the salmonella outbreak that's sickened more than 1,440 people appears to be over.  A joint probe by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration has found strong evidence that jalapeno peppers were a major carrier of the bacteria, and that serrano peppers were also a carrier. The strain that caused the outbreak has been traced back to a produce distribution center in Texas, and to a Mexican farm that grew peppers.  The investigation hasn't found any contaminated tomatoes. But investigators say they can't rule out that tomatoes might have been a carrier, particularly early on.
 

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On August 10, 2008 the following appeared in the Washington Post:

In August 2006, federal meat inspectors threatened to suspend operations at the packing house for not following requirements for controlling E. coli. The company corrected the problem a week later, USDA records show.

That year, Minnesota health officials blamed Nebraska Beef for sickening 17 people who ate meatballs at a church potluck in rural Minnesota. Several victims filed lawsuits against Nebraska Beef, including the family of a woman who died. The company last fall sued the church, arguing that the volunteer cooks did not cook the meatballs properly.

Lamson said management has since asked that the suit be dropped.

It is now August 21, 2008 and the Church Ladies are still sued. Nebraska Beef, what gives?
 

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Nebraska Beef should be ashamed.  On June 26, Evelyn was transferred to the Archbold Memorial Hospital Medical Intensive Care Unit in Thomasville, GA, where she continues to battle the complications of the E. coli O157:H7 infection.

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Blog Release:

A victim of the June 2008 lettuce E. coli outbreak in Thurston and Pierce counties filed suit today in the Superior Court of Washington, King County.  Heather Whybrew of Federal Way, Washington was a student at Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland when she was infected with E. coli O157:H7.  The lawsuit was filed against Northwest Fruit and Produce Inc and “John Does,” Growers, Shippers and Suppliers by attorney William Marler and Marler Clark,  a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness.

Ten people were sickened in the outbreak, which was traced to bagged, commercial romaine lettuce manufactured and distributed by Northwest Produce to food service locations including Pacific Lutheran University (PLU).  Ms. Whybrew fell ill on May 16, after taking all of her meals at PLU.  She experienced cramping, nausea, and diarrhea, which became bloody the next day.  In extreme pain, she went to the school health center, and was told to go to the emergency room.  She was admitted to the hospital in Federal Way, Washington where she tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.  Ms. Whybrew battled the E. coli infection over the next week, developing pneumonia as well as blood clots in her extremities and IV insertion sites, for which she required Heparin, a blood thinner.  When kidney irregularities emerged, she was transferred to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, where she remained until June 6.  She was hospitalized for 20 days.  She continues to recover from the infection and its complications—she must give herself two Heparin shots daily in the abdomen to keep blood clots at bay.

“Leafy greens from California are the sleeping giant,” said Whybrew’s attorney William Marler.  Once E. coli O157:H7 gets on—or into—the product, it is almost impossible to wash off.  A tiny number of bacteria can sicken or even kill.  Positive changes were made after the terrible spinach E coli O157:H7 outbreak in 2006, but this outbreak and others indicate that there are still problems in the system.  Salinas, California is again suspected as being the source of the lettuce that sickened Heather and nine others, and that is where regulation is the tightest.  There’s clearly a great deal of work still to do.”

“I have a very high tolerance for pain,” said Ms. Whybrew in a statement.  “I have experienced sports injuries, undergone reconstructive surgery, and have had a crainiotomy to remove a brain tumor.  I have had chemo and a difficult rehab from partial paralysis—but I have never experienced anything like the pain from E. coli O157:H7 infection.”

E. coli O157:H7 is often contracted by consuming food or beverage that has been contaminated by animal (especially cattle) manure.  The majority of food borne E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks has been traced to contaminated ground beef; however leafy vegetables that have been contaminated in fields or during processing have been increasingly identified as the source of outbreaks.

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Garance Burke, the pied piper of pepper reporting, added fuel to the flames lapping at what is left of a once proud Federal Agency – the FDA.  Her story of a few hours ago, “Mexican peppers posed problem long before outbreak,” is less shocking than pathetic. Here is the meat:

Federal inspectors at U.S. border crossings repeatedly turned back filthy, disease-ridden shipments of peppers from Mexico in the months before a salmonella outbreak that sickened 1,400 people was finally traced to Mexican chilies.

Yet no larger action was taken.  Food and Drug Administration officials insisted as recently as last week that they were surprised by the outbreak because Mexican peppers had not been spotted as a problem before.

Peppers and chilies were consistently the top Mexican crop rejected by border inspectors for the last year. Since January alone, 88 shipments of fresh and dried chilies were turned away.  Ten percent were contaminated with salmonella.  In the last year, 8 percent of the 158 intercepted shipments of fresh and dried chilies had salmonella.

The agency doesn't keep count of what percentage of the nearly 491,200 metric tons of Mexican peppers imported last year were turned away at the U.S. border.  In general, the federal government inspects less than 1 percent of all foreign food entering the country.

And, David Acheson, our Food Czar, linked the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak to Tomatoes?  "Say it ain’t so."  With our federal food safety agencies unable to perform at a basic level of competence, perhaps the Opinion Piece in the LA Times has things at least partially correct – “Sold on food safety - Corporate self-interest and fear of lawsuits has some retailers taking on the role of consumer watchdogs.”

If more than 1,400 people were sickened by a nationwide outbreak of salmonella, could a lawsuit be far behind?  A Colorado man has sued Wal-Mart [that would be my case], claiming that he was sold a tainted jalapeno pepper even though the retailer leads its customers to believe that the food it sells is wholesome.  [The Salmonella Saintpaul found in his stool was a match to the peppers found in his home and linked to all 1,400 other illnesses and the Mexican farms where the peppers were grown].

The opinion piece goes on to say incorrectly,  “Wal-Mart, of course, would have had no way of knowing whether its peppers were tainted [Hmmm, wonder if Wal-Mart even cared where it could buy peppers the cheapest?]….”

But, then the writer hits it:

Considering how amorphous food production is under modern agribusiness practices -- with processors and distributors commingling and shipping produce from hundreds of farms, and the FDA unable so far to monitor this situation in a meaningful way -- retailers represent the consumer's best chance of being compensated for food poisoning.  Because of that, they also might turn out to be the strongest force for safer agricultural methods.

Bingo! It is time for the big retailers to step up and put food safety first.  Whether it is peppers procured by Wal-Mart or hamburger handled by Whole Foods, retailers must require – and pay for – safe food from suppliers.  Safer food means less ill people, less ill people means less lawsuits. Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, get the picture?  You stop buying contaminated food and selling it as safe to your customers and I will stop suing you - easy enough?
 

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Here are some links to stories on raw milk-related illnesses that we have, or have had, the honor to represent the ill person or persons (mainly kids), and the status of the cases.

Dee Creek

An outbreak of E. coli bacteria that has sickened 11 or more people, four critically with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, has been linked to a dairy that was ordered by the state in August to stop selling raw milk.  Dee Creek Farm, accused of defying the order, is being investigated by at least four state and local agencies, and investigators asked that all of those who consumed milk from the dairy contact their local health departments, regardless of whether they are or have recently been ill.  Raw milk no longer sold.  Lawsuits Settled.

Grace Harbor Farms

Two children have been sickened by E. coli bacteria (one with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome) in a case associated with unpasteurized milk, the state Health Department said Thursday.  The milk came from Grace Harbor Farms, a dairy operation in Whatcom County, the department said.  Testing confirmed both cases were caused by the same strain of the bacteria, E. coli O157:H7 -- also the strain at issue in the recent spinach recall.  The Health Department release said both children drank milk from the dairy, whose products are available in several counties through health food stores, PCC Natural Markets and Whole Foods Market.  Raw milk no longer sold.  Lawsuit Settled

Organic Pastures

E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to the consumption of raw milk products.  Five of six patients reported they had consumed Organic Pastures raw dairy products in the week before their illness onset; the sixth patient denied drinking Organic Pastures raw milk, although his family routinely purchased it.  Among the five patients who consumed Organic Pastures dairy products, two consumed raw whole milk, two consumed raw skim milk, and one consumed raw chocolate-flavored colostrum. Four of the five patients routinely drank raw milk from Organic Pastures.  One patient was exposed to Organic Pastures dairy product only once; he was served raw chocolate colostrum as a snack when visiting a friend.  No other food item was commonly consumed by all six patients.  No other illness was reported among household members who consumed brand Organic Pastures products.  Two children developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.  In Litigation.

The Herb Depot

The Herb Depot of sold the raw goat's milk illegally and encouraged the Pedersen's to buy it.  Pedersen child developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.  The milk was contaminated with E. coli at the time it was sold. The Missouri Attorney General's Office is also filing suit against the company for violating the law.  Assume they have stopped selling raw milk.  In Litigation.

Town Farm Dairy

The state Department of Agriculture said Friday that the E. coli outbreak that seriously sickened five people (at least two with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome) who drank raw milk from the Town Farm Dairy most likely came from one cow. The agency conducted numerous tests of the farm's cows, property and equipment and found the infection in the fecal matter of one of the cows.  Some of the raw milk was sold at Whole Foods.  Dairy closed.  Litigation soon.

Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms

Alexandre Family EcoDairy Farms ended its raw milk program after several people who consumed the product got sick, including one Crescent City woman who remains in intensive care and is partially paralyzed (actually on a ventilator). The Del Norte County Department of Public Health suspects at least 15 people who ingested raw milk contracted Campylobacter, a common bacteria found in domesticated animals that can cause gastrointestinal illness.  Raw milk no longer available.  Investigation ongoing.

Trying to be unbiased is difficult.  When you represent people who have been so sick, who are still now on a ventilator, or risk End Stage Renal Disease in the future, unpasteurized milks just does not seem to make much sense.  Here are some posts on both the Pros and Cons of drinking raw milk.

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The salmonella outbreak seems to be finally winding down, but the FDA still can not yet say how the few tainted Mexican peppers they have found could explain such widespread illness.

The outbreak is not considered over yet, Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson cautioned on Friday.  The outbreak strain has been confirmed in 1,423 patients, with the latest known illness beginning July 24 according to the CDC.

The FDA is focusing its probe on farms in Mexico where a handful of jalapeno and serrano peppers, and some irrigation water, tainted with the outbreak strain of salmonella were traced.  At least one of the farms also grew tomatoes — the initial suspect — as well as peppers.  And two of them sent produce to a common packing facility.
 

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A friend just sent me a link to Omaha Action 3 News – “Recall Ridden Beef Plant Stays Open: Why?”
Good question and I love the first line – “Another day, another recall from one specific South Omaha meat packing plant.”

Here is the fun part:

An Action 3 News investigation has found ties between the South Omaha plant and Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. According to federal election records, two years ago, Senator Nelson's re-election campaign received contributions from two top officials of Nebraska Beef.  In 2006 William Lamson, the lawyer for the company, gave Nelson 2 thousand dollars. Lamson is also Nelson's former law partner. The President of Nebraska Beef has also contributed to Nelson. In 2006 William Hughes wrote Nelson three checks. The first was for $2,000. The second: $2,100. The third: $10,300 thousand.  A grand total of $14,400.

One other note, according to the Washington Post, in 1998 when Nelson was Governor, the State of Nebraska gave Nebraska Beef seven and a half million dollars in tax credits. Nelson was a member of the three man board that okayed those tax breaks.

As I always say, “money talks and E. coli walks.”  Or, is it 'eat E. coli and die?" Or simply just "eat E. coli!" Or, in Nebraska Beef's case, they are "in a lot of E. coli."  They should really "get their E. coli together."  Why, because, "they should give an E. coli."

I find it amazing how many people in and out of the beef industry have been helpful - sending me tips and documents - especially inspection reports on Nebraska Beef Ltd.  I also got a few emails today that you can find below:

Continue Reading...

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I am sure glad FSIS made this clear:

Clarification: This recall affects only certain products produced at the Nebraska Beef Ltd. company, located in Omaha. It does not relate, implicate, or otherwise affect beef in the State of Nebraska. Please note this important distinction.

Here is the real problem:

Recall Release CLASS I RECALL
FSIS-RC-029-2008 HEALTH RISK: HIGH

Nebraska Beef, Ltd., an Omaha, Neb., establishment, is clarifying information from and expanding its recall announced on Aug. 8 of primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef to include such products bearing the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd" that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The total amount of product subject to recall is approximately 1.36 million pounds. The expansion of approximately 160,000 pounds and the clarifying information include:

* Primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on June 24, whose shipping containers and labels bear the establishment number "EST. 19336" inside the USDA mark of inspection and the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd" The products may or may not bear a green sticker.
* Primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on July 8, whose shipping containers and labels bear the establishment number "EST. 19336" inside the USDA mark of inspection, the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd." as well as a 2-inch plain, circular green sticker on one side of the shipping box.

Poundage of products bearing the green sticker were included in the 1.2 million pounds originally recalled, but were not identified in the product description with the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd." in the Aug. 8 announcement.

FSIS has concluded that the production practices employed by Nebraska Beef, Ltd., on June 24 were insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7. The products subject to the expansion may have been produced under insanitary conditions. The expansion was not prompted by foodborne illness investigations.

These products were sent to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing and will likely not bear the establishment number "EST. 19336" on products available for direct consumer purchase.

The problem prompting the recall announced on Aug. 8 was discovered through a joint investigation with state departments of health and agriculture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FSIS. As of Aug. 11, there were 26 culture-confirmed cases in 10 states and 1 culture-confirmed case in Canada identified as part of this outbreak. This count is based on continuing testing, analysis and investigation.
 

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OK, Topps Meat recalled 21,000,000 pounds of meat and sickened 40; Nebraska Beef has recalled only 6,500,000 pounds and sickened nearly 80.  Topps was only a grinding operation (received primals from slaughter houses from all over the world).  Nebraska Beef was a slaughter house that shipped primals and other intact cuts of meats to various further processors and grocery stores - organic and not.  Topps Meat had 87 employees.  Nebraska Beef nearly 1,000 employees.  Hmmm, not much in common?

It took Topps Meat from the first recall of September 27, 2007 until Bankruptcy on November 23, 2007 (57 days).  Nebraska Beef's first recall was June 30, 2008 - well, we are now at day 42. 

Question, Nebraska Beef's recall was smaller than Topps, but number of employees and ill larger, will Bankruptcy filing be sooner or later?

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We now know that Nebraska Beef E. coli-tainted meet found its way into Coleman Natural Meats and then to Whole Foods and Dorothy Lanes Markets.  Kroger and its subsidiaries, Fred Meyer, City Market and King Soopers seems to have taken their E. coli strait from Nebraska Beef.  It also appears that Whole Foods and the rest kept selling Nebraska Beef meat after the June 30th recall.  Why?

So to recap, Nebraska Beef has recalled 6,500,000 pounds of E. coli-tainted meat since June.  Interestingly, Whole Foods, Dorothy Lanes Markets, Kroger, Fred Meyer, City market and King Soopers do not list the amount of meat they are recalling.  Why?

E. coli count since “uptick” began in Spring of 2007 – 41,658,179 pounds or 20,829 tons – see Excel Spreadsheet.

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Here we go again - Blog Release

Lawsuits Build Against Nebraska Beef as New Recall is Announced

A second Georgia lawsuit arising from E. coli tainted meat sourced from Nebraska Beef Ltd. was filed Friday, just as the beef processing company recalled another 1.2 million pounds of contaminated meat, bringing the total recalled in the last thirty days to over 6 million pounds. The complaint was filed against Nebraska Beef Ltd. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Valdosta Division on behalf of Lillie Ruth and Theron Richter of Colquitt County, Georgia.

A cluster of E. coli illnesses appeared in Colquitt County in late June, and was traced to the Barbeque Pit in Moultrie, Georgia. The restaurant closed voluntarily on July 3, and recently re-opened after almost a month of decontamination. As many as twelve customers of the Barbeque Pit developed E. coli, and four of the victims have developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS. Mrs. Richter ate at the Barbeque Pit in Moultrie, GA twice in late June, and by July 1, required hospitalization. She tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 and remained in the hospital for a week.

“The first priority is to help these families with their medical bills, lost employment, and long-term care,” said William Marler, the Richter’s attorney. “However Nebraska Beef and other meat processors need to realize that the customers they poison will not sit by and wait for the next recall. It is clear that the beef industry has dropped the reins on its food safety protocols—lately there has been a new E. coli outbreak every week somewhere in the US, and that means more families grappling with these life-threatening and life-altering illnesses. It has to stop.”

The Georgia cases have been genetically matched to a multi-state outbreak, which includes Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Utah, and Indiana. The illnesses have been traced to E. coli tainted meat from Nebraska Beef Ltd. of Omaha, NE, which was a supplier to the Barbeque Pit in Moultrie. At least 50 have fallen ill in the seven confirmed states. The new recall is responsible for up to 30 additional sicknesses in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Canada.  Recalls have also been announced by Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, City Market and King Soopers.

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If I poisoned 85 people, my guess is that I would be facing serious jail time (I can see the Raw Milk and Big Beef folks dancing now).  However, if you’re a company, like Nebraska Beef, that slaughters about 2,000 head of cattle a day, employs about 800 people in Omaha and has successfully sued the USDA, rules just do not seem to apply.

As I posted last night, Nebraska Beef, "EST 19336," late Friday night recalled an additional 1.2 million pounds of beef products that have sickened more than 30 people.  This is in addition to the 5.3 million pounds of meat that has been linked to at least other 49 cases of E. coli O157:H7 in seven states.

As I also posted last night, some of Nebraska Beef's products were sold by Whole Foods Market (supplied buy Coleman Natural Meats), which also announced a recall Friday.  Whole Foods is recalling fresh ground beef sold between June 2 to August 6.

Now, do not forget that Dorothy Lane Market of Ohio also recalled (earlier this month) E. coli O157: H7-tainted meat after two children, and four other, were sickened with E. coli O157:H7 traced to ground beef produced by supplier Coleman Natural Meats.  Coleman Natural Meats supplier – you guessed it - Nebraska Beef.  So, does that mean the number of ill is 85?

So, USDA/FSIS is a bit frightened of Nebraska Beef?  Tell that to the 79 - 85 people sickened – some still in ICU’s across this country.  Personally, I think it is time for the USDA/FSIS to get some “bolas” – or at least give Nebraska Beef a “time out.”  Me, I am going to do what I do – sue them on behalf of people they poisoned – hoping first to fairly compensate my clients and afterwards teach Nebraska Beef a lesson – Nebraska Beef, can you say, Bankruptcy?

I also think it is time for companies that use Nebraska Beef products, like Dorothy Lane, Kroger, Whole Foods and Coleman Natural Meats, to step up and ask if you should be doing business with such a company?  You know, just like “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” ignorance of your suppliers puts you in my legal cross hairs.

According to Human Rights Watch:

In 1995, investors purchased an abandoned, decaying, half-century-old meatpacking plant, one of many that dot the mixed-use neighborhood of South Omaha.  The renovated plant became the home of Nebraska Beef Ltd., the seventh-largest beef packing company in the United States.  Today, the smell of thousands of live cattle awaiting slaughter, and the stench of blood and offal from dead cattle, permeates the low-rise apartment buildings, modest homes, and small commercial shops in the area.

Nebraska Beef Ltd. is a privately-held firm which does not file annual reports with the U.S. federal Securities and Exchange Commission.  Nebraska Beef was founded in 1995 by a group of investors led by company president William Hughes in alliance with Day Lee Inc., the U.S. arm of Nippon Ham of Japan. Eighteen investment groups and individuals invested more than $12 million in the new enterprise.  Hughes had earlier been executive vice president of another Omaha beef processing plant called BeefAmerica, which was closed in October 1993, eliminating nine hundred jobs.  When it opened, Nebraska Beef got $7.5 million in state tax credits under Nebraska’s “Quality Jobs” initiative granting such credits to firms that create new jobs.  Nebraska Beef has annual sales of more than $800 million and capacity for slaughtering three thousand head of beef per day.

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The Courant reported this morning that the Connecticut State Department of Agriculture said Friday that the E. coli outbreak that seriously sickened five people who drank raw milk from the Town Farm Dairy most likely came from one cow.

The agency conducted numerous tests of the farm's cows, property and equipment and found the infection in the fecal matter of one of the cows.

"We're not sure about how the bacteria got into the milk. No matter how clean you are on a farm, there's still some possibility that you're going to get bacteria into the milk," said Dr. Bruce Sherman, a veterinarian and the director of the bureau of regulation and inspection for the state agency.




Raw milk is not treated to kill potentially harmful bacteria, but its fans say it has better flavor and is more nutritious than pasteurized milk.
  "We didn't find anything glaringly wrong that they were doing at Town Farm Dairy," Sherman said. "... It's just that retail raw milk for human consumption is always a risk."



To show that this really is all about making a buck, here is the interview with the Farm’s Vice-president:

[T]he farm might not be able to last another month. It had to stop producing and selling raw milk and stop pasteurizing milk after people got sick. Since then, the farm has sent milk to be pasteurized off-site and sells the product in bulk to a co-op, but that sale does not help the farm reap much profit, Sullivan said. He said the farm could lose at least $10,000 a month if it continues to operate that way.


"That income is less than a fourth of what we get for bottle milk, and, unfortunately, that doesn't even cover the feed. We will have to be selling some cows in order to get the income to keep feeding the rest of the cows," Sullivan said.



For information on Raw Milk - Click - Here

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USDA – FSIS Recall Release
FSIS-RC-029-2008

CLASS I RECALL
HEALTH RISK: HIGH

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2008 – Nebraska Beef, Ltd., an Omaha, Neb., establishment is recalling approximately 1.2 million pounds of primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

These beef products were produced on June 17, June 24 and July 8, 2008. The shipping containers and product labels bear the establishment number “EST. 19336” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the brand “Coleman Natural.” However, these products were sent to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing and will likely not bear the establishment number “EST. 19336” on products available for direct consumer purchase.

The problem was discovered through a joint investigation with state departments of health and agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FSIS. To date, 31 cases in 12 states and Canada have been identified in the investigation.

FSIS is continuing its investigation into any products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 or that are associated with illnesses and will take appropriate action when necessary.

For those not familiar with Nebraska Beef - click - HERE

"Ubberblogger" at Efoodalert traces the E. coli trail from Nebraska Beef to Whole Foods - Whole Foods had the following to say in its announcement of the meat recall:

Whole Foods Market is informed that the beef in question apparently came from Coleman Natural Beef whose Nebraska Beef processing plant was previously subject to a nationwide recall for E. coli O157:H7 contamination. At the time of the previous recall, Whole Foods Market received assurances from Coleman Natural Beef that no product delivered to Whole Foods Market was linked to the recall. Those assurances are now in question and Whole Foods Market is actively investigating the issue. At this time, no Coleman Natural Beef fresh ground beef products from the Nebraska Beef processing facility are available in any Whole Foods Market stores.

She also correctly points out that Coleman Natural Beef was also implicated in the Ohio Dorothy Lane Market E. coli outbreak last month - which was also linked to Nebraska Beef - a month ago.  Two questions arise from this:

1)  Why did FSIS not recall the Nebraska Beef after the Coleman link was established?

2)  Why did Whole Foods keep selling Coleman product?

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Whole Foods, paragon of the natural food marketplace, linked to an E. coli outbreak tied to Nebraska Beef Ltd.?  Goodness!  According to the Boston Globe this morning, Massachusetts health authorities are warning consumers not to eat ground beef bought from Whole Foods Markets over the last two months after seven E. coli O157:H7 infections have been linked to Nebraska Beef Ltd. Meat.

The people who fell ill -- five of whom were hospitalized -- had all eaten ground beef from Whole Foods last month.  Test results indicate that the ground beef products were part of a nationwide recall of meat produced by Nebraska Beef Ltd. because of E. coli contamination.

What I found most disturbing is this quote:

"A review of records from Whole Foods indicates that some of the stores received product from the recall list," the state said in a release. "At this time, it is not known why the food listed under the USDA recall was sold to the public after the recall date."

Well, I guess the good thing is that Whole Foods is now recalling fresh ground beef sold from June 2 through Aug. 6 at stores in the United States and Canada because the beef might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.  The company has received reports seven people in Massachusetts and two in Pennsylvania who shopped at Whole Foods Market became ill.  Federal health authorities say there have been 49 confirmed illnesses tied to that outbreak.

So, it begs a couple of questions – 1) Why was Whole Foods selling meat that was supposed to be recalled? 2) Why was Whole Foods buying meat from Nebraska Beef Ltd., in the first place?  Whole Foods website is filled with all sorts of promises. Here is one that seemed to be a bit ignored:

Products - Our Quality Standards

We carry natural and organic products because we believe that food in its purest state — unadulterated by artificial additives, sweeteners, colorings, and preservatives — is the best tasting and most nutritious food available.

Our business is to sell the highest quality foods we can find at the most competitive prices possible. We evaluate quality in terms of nutrition, freshness, appearance, and taste. Our search for quality is a never-ending process involving the careful judgment of buyers throughout the company.

Here are some other questions for Whole Foods (after they answer the first two):

1)  Were you aware of Nebraska Beef’s litigation history against the USDA in 2003 and a church in upstate Minnesota in 2007?

2)  Had you ever reviewed Nebraska Beef’s Non-compliance Reports?

3)  Had you ever visited the Nebraska Beef plant?

4)  After being linked to an E. coli outbreak in California in 2006, what safety measures did Whole Foods employ?

Also, this is certainly not the first time Whole Foods has been linked to and E. coli problem.  We represent two children who became ill after eating E. coli-tainted hamburger purchased at a Palo Alto Whole Foods in 2006 and a child that developed HUS after drinking raw milk purchased at a Hartford Whole Foods.  Perhaps that is why they got an "F."

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I went to bed late last night waiting to confirm this recall, but it still had not shown up on the FSIS recall site - even as of this morning.  But, here it is from several reliable sources:

CLASS I RECALL
HEALTH RISK: HIGH

S&S Foods LLC., an Azusa, Calif., firm (S&S Foods, LLC manufactures raw and cooked protein products. It was founded in 1998 and is based in Azusa, California. As of July 2003, S&S Foods, LLC is a subsidiary of CTI Foods.  1120 West Foothill Boulevard, Azusa, CA 91702-2818, Phone: 626-633-1609), is recalling approximately 153,630 pounds of frozen 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 following products subject to recall include:

• 30-pound boxes of “742798 MFST, 100% GROUND BEEF BULK, 80/20, 1LB. BRICK.”

These boxes of frozen ground beef products bear the establishment number “EST. 20375” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and a case code beginning “06238” ink-jet printed on the side of the box. This product was intended for food service and institutional use and not for direct retail purchase.

The problem was discovered through a joint epidemiological investigation by FSIS and the Virginia Department of Health as well as product testing by the Virginia Department of Health.

These ground beef products were shipped to distribution centers located in Milwaukee, Wis., and Allentown, Penn.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.

FSIS has received 11 reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a medical professional.

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The wheels have come off the hamburger industry.  Since the Spring of 2007 it has sickened hundreds - the young, the old - grandma's and boy scouts.  Here are the recalls:

Natural State Meat Company 1/29/07 4,240 FSIS Recall - E coli
Tyson Fresh Meats 3/2/07 16,743 FSIS Recall - E coli
Richwood Meat Company 4/20/07 107,943 FSIS Recall - E coli
HFX, Inc 4/20/07 259,230 FSIS Recall - E coli
PM Beef Holdings 5/10/07 117,500 FSIS Recall - E coli
Davis Creek Meats 5/11/07 129,000 FSIS Recall - E coli
Tyson Fresh Meats 6/8/07 40,440 FSIS Recall - E coli
United Food Group 6/3-6/9/07 5,700,000 FSIS Recall - E coli
Washington Beef 7/15/07 82,286 FSIS recall - insanitary conditions
Abbott's Meat Inc 7/21/07 26,669 FSIS Recall - E coli
Custom Pack 7/25/07 5,920 FSIS Recall - E coli
Interstate Meat 8/30/07 41,305 FSIS Public Health Alert - E. Coli
Fairbank Farms 9/5/07 884 FSIS Recall - E coli
Impero Foods 9/29/07 65 FSIS Recall - E coli
Topps Meat Company 10/6/07 21,700,000 FSIS Recall - E coli
Cargill 10/6/07 845,000 FSIS Recall - E coli
J&B Meats 10/13/07 173,554 FSIS Recall - E coli
Arko Veal Co 10/13/07 1,900 FSIS Recall - E coli
Blue Ribbon Meats 10/24/07 8,200 FSIS Recall - E coli
Del Mar Provision Company 10/27/07 50 FSIS Recall - E coli
Totinos/General Mills 11/1/07 3,300,000 FSIS Recall - E coli
Cargill 11/3/07 1,084,384 FSIS Recall - E coli
American Foods Group 11/24/07 95,927 FSIS Recall - E coli
Snapps Ferry 12/17/07 102 FSIS Recall - E coli
Fresh Brands 12/27/07 14,800 FSIS Public Health Alert - E. Coli

Total amount recalled in 2007 33,756,142 pounds

Mark's Quality Meats 1/5/08 13,150 FSIS Recall - E coli
Rochester Meats 1/12/08 188,000 FSIS Recall - E coli
Palama Holdings 5/8/08 68,670 FSIS Recall - E coli
Fairbank Reconstruction Co 5/12/08 22,481 FSIS Recall - E coli
JSM Meat Holdings 5/16/08 undetermined FSIS Recall - E coli
Dutch's Meats 6/8/08 13,275 FSIS Recall - E coli
Kroger 6/25,7/3 2008 undetermined FSIS Recall - E coli - current
Nebraska Beef 6/30, 7/3 2008 5,300,000 FSIS Recall - E coli - current

Total amount recalled so far in 2008 5,605,576 pounds

Total amount recalled in 2007 and 2008 to date 39,361,718 pounds

New addition - S&S Meats 8/6/08 153,630 FSIS Recall - E coli - current

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As I said in a press release today:

An outbreak of the highly toxic strain of E. coli O157:H7 in the Boston area appears to be part of a multi-state outbreak that has sickened more than 50 people in seven states. The E. coli in the six confirmed illnesses in Boston has the same genetic fingerprint as the illnesses in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, New York, Georgia, and Utah. Those illnesses have been traced to contaminated beef from Nebraska Beef, Ltd. of Omaha.

“This outbreak has put people into Intensive Care Units,” said food safety advocate and attorney William Marler.  “The meat inspection system has somehow come completely off the rails, with more than 40 million tons of contaminated beef recalled in just the last year and a half. As scary as that number is, what’s even scarier is that only a tiny percentage of that recalled meat is actually recovered, and people are still getting sick. Outrage isn’t enough—we need reform, and we need it immediately.”The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is investigating six cases of E. coli O157:H7 in Massachusetts residents that appear to be caused by the same strain of the bacteria found in patients from several other states.

A source of contamination has not been identified; however the cluster of illnesses may be linked to the consumption of beef products. State health officials, along with investigators from USDA, worked through the weekend to try and identify a possible source of contamination. The investigation is focused on ground beef, and testing of samples collected from several stores will be conducted this week.  Based on the preliminary findings, DPH is reminding the public to consume only fully cooked ground beef.

The Massachusetts cases range in age from three to 60 years. They include residents of Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex counties. They reported becoming ill between July 10th and 16th. At least five of the cases were hospitalized. These cases may be linked to 20 other cases in several states and Quebec that were caused by the same strain of E. coli.

The Massachusetts cases were linked by DNA testing and by comparing those results to results from others around the country through a federal foodborne illness surveillance program called PulseNet.

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It is time for retailers – the “Big Boxes” – to step up and make sure their products are not the cheapest or the most profitable - that they have not squeezed the last penny out of the farmers and middlemen -  but the safest. As I said today:

"Hopefully, this lawsuit will send Wal-Mart a bit of a message that they are just as responsible as the farmer in Mexico for providing healthful food," attorney William Marler said.

Our client, Brian Grubbs' wife purchased the peppers at a Wal-Mart store in Cortez, Colo., on June 26, according to the lawsuit. Grubbs eats them raw on sandwiches and said in the suit that within a few days he began experiencing diarrhea, vomiting and nausea, among other symptoms. He also claimed that he was severely dehydrated and could not walk without assistance. The same strain of salmonella has infected more than 1,300 people over the past three months. Tests of his stool and the peppers were positive for Salmonella saintpaul, according to the lawsuit. Federal health officials on Wednesday identified jalapeño and serrano peppers from a Mexican farm as the source of the outbreak, which initially was linked to tomatoes.

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The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) and Connecticut Department of Agriculture (DOA) are investigating an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157 associated with consumption of unpasteurized milk produced at a dairy farm in Simsbury, CT.  A total of four cases have been identified; one is laboratory-confirmed as E. coli O157 at the DPH State Laboratory and two are presumptively positive for E. coli O157 at clinical laboratories.  All four patients were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP); three required hospitalization.  Three patients are children, aged 2 to 7 years.  Onset of symptoms occurred during June 28 - July 15, 2008.

Unpasteurized milk was sold on site at the dairy farm and also distributed to four food markets in the greater Hartford area.  The farm had voluntarily suspended all raw milk production on July 9 as a result of elevated coliform counts found on routine testing that was done as part of the production process.  Based on patient interviews, raw milk consumed by the cases had known sell-by dates of June 24, July 4, and July 13.  The sell-by date is generally one week from the production date. 

The Town Farm Dairy was profiled in the New York Times earlier this year - "Making Their Case for Raw Milk"

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Press reports today announced the obvious - Cow Shit (a.k.a fecal matter) from one cow at Town Farm Dairy farm caused five people (at least a few children) to get sick with E. coli (E. coli O157:H7), according to the state Department of Agriculture.  Department representatives said fecal matter (a.k.a. Cow Shit) from one cow contained E. coli bacteria and “somehow” made its way into the raw milk sold by the dairy.  The link among the five people who became ill was that each had consumed raw milk from the dairy farm, officials have said.  Tests found E. coli in the fecal matter (a.k.a. Cow Shit) of one cow and investigators said they believe that fecal matter (a.k.a. Cow Shit) could have gotten into the milk during or after the milking process.  Rumor has it that at least one of the ill purchased the Cow Shit (a.k.a fecal matter) contaminated milk at Whole Foods.

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We are proud that our client, Angela Pedersen, spoke out on local TV about her son's life-threatening illness. The Pedersen family is suing Soni Copeland and The Herb Depot and Organic Market in Monett.

"It was a living hell. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone," says Pedersen.

It's hard for Pedersen to look back on the last few months. She almost lost her son Larry, who was not even a year old, to E. coli.

"I don't know how many days I would look at my son and I didn't know if he was going to take another breath," says Pedersen.

Pedersen says Larry contracted the disease from raw milk she bought at the Herb Depot and Organic Market in Monett. The family's now suing that business. Pedersen says back in April she went to the store to buy almond milk. She says she was then told about the benefits of raw milk.

"We were approached and told that the goat's milk would be a better alternative. It's healthier than breast milk and it would be wonderful for him. We agreed to try it," says Pedersen.

Just days later, Pedersen says her son got very sick.

"It began with upset stomach, diarrhea and basically key thing and what all parents need to watch out for is blood in the stool," says Pedersen.

Larry was diagnosed with E. coli and quickly developed life-threatening complications. He did recover after 30 days, but the family says having kidney damage changes you for life.

"We are just grateful we've gotten through it and that we have our son, "says Pedersen.

Angela Pedersen says she understands there are many people who believe in drinking raw milk, but says from now on, she's sticking to what she knows and remaining thankful for what she has.

"Every day, every second, every time I look at my kids I am thankful." says Pederson.

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The first lawsuit stemming from the Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 1319 people, hospitalized 255 and caused the death of 2 in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Canada was filed today in the District Court of Montezuma County, Colorado. The complaint was filed on behalf of Delores, Colorado resident Brian Grubbs against Wal-Mart and an unknown supplier, referred to as “John Doe”.

The lawsuit states that the Grubbs family purchased raw jalapeno peppers from the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Cortez, Colorado in late June, and that Mr. Grubbs ate them over the next week. He fell ill on July 3, experiencing nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, and diarrhea. Over the next several days, Mr. Grubbs’ condition continued to worsen; he lost a great deal of weight, was severely dehydrated, and could not walk without assistance. His wife drove him to the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, New Mexico, where he was treated for dehydration and decreased kidney and liver functions. Samples taken at the time later revealed that he was positive for salmonella Saintpaul.

“Consumers believe that retailers like Wal-Mart know the quality and safety of products they sell,” said William Marler, the Grubbs’ attorney. “Retailers benefit from that trust, and must be held accountable for the products they sell.”

The Grubbs family still possessed some of the peppers that Mr. Grubbs had consumed, and provided them to authorities. Tests revealed that the peppers were tainted with salmonella Saintpaul, and provided one of the first reported physical links in the three-month-long search for the source of the outbreak.

Salmonellosis illnesses from the Saintpaul strain began showing up in Texas and New Mexico in late April, and in early June the CDC linked those illnesses to raw tomatoes and issued consumer warnings. Advisories were widened to include foods commonly consumed with tomatoes, such as peppers, cilantro, and onions, then narrowed to raw jalapeno and serrano peppers. On July 30, the FDA confirmed the presence of salmonella Saintpaul at a farm in Mexico, both in irrigation water and on produce. The investigation is continuing. (A full timeline of the outbreak can be found here.)

Salmonella is a bacterium that causes one of the most common intestinal illnesses in the US: salmonellosis infection. It can be present in uncooked or undercooked meat, poultry, eggs, or unpasturized dairy products, as well as other foods contaminated during harvest, production, or packaging. Symptoms can begin 6 to 72 hours from consumption, and include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting. In most victims, symptoms will lessen over a period of 10 days to 2 weeks, although it may take months for body functions to return to normal. In others, the infection can lead to more severe illnesses such as typhoid fever and bacteremia. There are many strains of the bacterium; salmonella Saintpaul is a fairly common serotype, but the specific subtype, or fingerprint, associated with this outbreak is very rare.

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To borrow a well used phrase, and change it a bit - "I love the smell of a recall in the morning."

It seems that our friends in Omaha have been busy.  Apparently, a ground beef sample collected from Est. 20420 (All American Meats) on 6/25/08 tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 with indistinguishable PFGE pattern (genetic fingerprint) combination (EXHX01.0008 / EXHA26.0569).  This genetic fingerprint has been linked to 17 confirmed E. coli O157:H7 infections from 8 states (ID 2, MA 5, IL 1, PA 3, CA 1, OH 2, Al 1 and NM 2).  Est. 19336, (Nebraska Beef Ltd.), of the recent Kroger recall and suing the Minnesota church fame, appears to supply “primals” and “trim” to All American Meats.  So, what is the business connection between Nebraska Beef and All American Meats?  I love All American Meats motto:

#1 Rule

"If we don't take care of the customer... Somebody else will!"

So, I guess I will.  So, when do we send in the stormtroopers?

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A lawsuit was filed today in the Circuit Court for Barry County, Missouri against Soni Copeland and the Herb Depot and Organic Market. The petition was filed on behalf of Monett residents Brian and Angela Pedersen and their young son, Larry. The Pedersen family is represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness, and by Aleshire, Robb, and Sivils of Springfield, Missouri.

The lawsuit states that in April, 2008 Angela Pedersen purchased raw milk from the Herb Depot and Organic Market in Monett, where she was encouraged to give it to her son Larry, then one year old. In late April, Larry Pedersen began to suffer from symptoms including vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. He was admitted to the hospital in Aurora, Missouri, where he tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 and subsequently developed HUS, or Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a severe and life-threatening complication. On May 10, 2008 he was transferred to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital, where he remained until May 29. As a result of his infection and illness, he has suffered severe and permanent injuries.

Raw milk regulation is determined at the state level and varies widely across the country. In Missouri, raw milk can legally be sold at the point of production (the dairy farm) or delivered personally by the farmer, but may not be sold by retail establishments such as the Herb Depot.   As a state law was violated, the Missouri Attorney General’s office has also filed suit against Soni Copeland and the Herb Depot.

Raw milk is at the center of a nationwide controversy over its potential value as a nutritional food versus the terrible illnesses that can result from contaminated product. Pasteurization was developed to rid dairy products of pathogens like toxic E. coli, as well as to assure a longer, safer shelf life. Proponents of raw milk believe that pasteurization also eliminates healthful benefits of the dairy product.

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According to Ohio Health officials in southwest Ohio, six people have become sick with E. coli O157:H7 in Montgomery County in recent weeks, leading to a ground beef recall from three markets.  Dorothy Lane Market is asking consumers to return ground beef products sold at all three of its stores with sell-by dates between June 9 and July 29.  The company says two of the sickened people are associated with their beef.  Dorothy Lane Market says the recall is linked to the same processing facility in Nebraska that forced Cincinnati-based Kroger earlier this month to have a national beef recall at its stories.

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I was on the phone with our client discussing the status of the state of Colorado's test on their jalapeno's, when I received this press release from the state:

State Laboratory Confirms First Human Case of Salmonella from Jalapeno

DENVER - The Laboratory Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed that a jalapeno pepper provided by an ill individual from Montezuma County has tested positive with the same DNA pattern of Salmonella Saintpaul-the strain that has caused a large, multistate outbreak of salmonella.

The pepper was purchased at a local Wal-Mart, likely on June 24, and the individual became ill on July 4. This is the first pepper linked directly to an ill person in this outbreak.

The state health department is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine the origin of the pepper.

On Friday, the FDA advised consumers that all fresh jalapeno and serrano peppers grown in the United States are not associated with the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak. However, jalapeno and serrano peppers grown outside of the United States should be eaten only if they have been processed or canned. They should not be eaten raw.

This advisory was based on evidence gathered during a multiweek, intensive investigation conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in partnership with the FDA and several states to find the source of the contamination that led to the outbreak.

State health officials advised consumers who are going to purchase jalapeno or serrano peppers to first ask their grocer’s manager where their peppers were grown.

The CDC reports that since April 1,304 people have been infected with a strain of Salmonella Saintpaul having the same genetic fingerprint. Cases have been identified in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, with 16 confirmed cases reported in Colorado-Adams (2); Denver (2); Douglas (1); El Paso (3); Montezuma (2); Otero (2); Pueblo (3); Weld (1).

I'm glad a Marler Clark client could be of service.  Perhaps what all of us should do is what smart condo dwellers (with south facing verandas) do in Seattle - grow your own:

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In breaking news this evening, Connecticut state inspectors are investigating raw milk from a Simsbury dairy farm after reported illnesses.  The State Department of Agriculture is looking at whether the raw, unpasteurized milk from Town Farm Dairy on Wolcott Street is responsible for making people sick after a number of illnesses have been reported.  The dairy has voluntarily shut down production and its store while inspectors investigate.

We are representing a young boy sickened with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome by E. coli O157:H7 in Missouri.  Press reports - Raw milk thought to sicken one with E. coli O157:H7 in Missouri.  Radio station KSMU reports in this podcast that a local resident has contracted E. coli O157:H7 and that raw milk appears to be a risk factor.  Hear it all at KSMU News.

We are also investigating a guillain-barre syndrome case from Crescent City, California that was caused by a Campylobacter infection induced by raw milk consumption.  The victim has been hospitalized on a ventilator now for 5 weeks.

We are also continuing litigation on behalf of two children who suffered severe E. coli O157:H7 infections (HUS) after consuming raw milk products produced by Organic Pastures.

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The FDA has announced that Agricola Zaragoza, Inc. of McAllen, Texas is recalling Jalapeno Peppers distributed since June 30th, 2008 (see CDC Report below) because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes-fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The Jalapeno Peppers being recalled were shipped in 35lb. plastic crates and in 50lb. bags with no brand name or label. The recall is a result of sampling by FDA, which revealed that these Jalapeno Peppers were contaminated with the same strain of Salmonella Saintpaul responsible for the current Salmonella outbreak. It is unknown at this time, which, if any, of the more than 1,200 illnesses reported to date is related to this particular product or to the grower who supplied this product. Distribution of these products has been suspended while FDA, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the company continue their investigation as to the source of the problem.

So, they are only recalling Jalapeno Peppers "since June 30th"? 

Why, if the CDC says the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak, which now numbers 1251 ill, whose illnesses began between April 10 and July 4, 2008, including 19 who became ill on July 1 or later, is the recall only start June 30th?  So, that means that something started sickening people BEFORE June 30th?  What?  Tomatoes still not off the hook?

To make matters even more confusing, the FDA announced that Grande Produce, LTD. is recalling Jalapeno Peppers, Serrano Peppers, and Avocados do to a possible health risk.

NOTE: "According to the Texas and North Carolina Departments of Health, the strain of Salmonella found in this company's jalapeño and serrano peppers and in its avocado is not Salmonella Saintpaul, and is not believed to be related to the current Salmonella outbreak.

Grande Produce, LTD. CO of Hidalgo, Texas (hereinafter referred to as Grande Produce) is recalling Jalepeno Peppers and Serrano Peppers distributed between May 17th and July 17th, 2008; and Avocados, all sizes, with lot #HUE08160090889 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The Jalapeno Peppers, Serrano Peppers and Avocados were distributed to the following states: TX, DE, NC, GA, OK, IA, MN, IL, FL, IN, MD, NY, MS, AR, KS, and KY. The avocados being recalled were shipped in boxes labeled "Frutas Finas de Tancitaro HASS Avocados, Produce of Mexico," all sizes, with lot number HUE08160090889. The Jalapeno Peppers and Serrano peppers being recalled were shipped in 35lb. plastic crates with no brand name or label.

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Only showing how our food system is truly global, today, US government inspectors have found Salmonella Saintpaul, the strain responsible for a nationwide food-poisoning outbreak, in Mexican-grown jalapenos in a Texas plant, prompting a new warning for consumers to avoid eating fresh jalapenos.

However, the FDA continues to say that it doesn't mean Mexican jalapenos are the culprit — the pepper may not have been contaminated on the farm. And while tomatoes currently are safe to eat, health officials also said the finding doesn't exonerate tomatoes that were sold earlier in the spring and summer.

Ouch, that makes my head hurt.  Phyllis Entis from Efoodalert raises a number of issues and questions that still need to be resolved:

1. Is the Salmonella Saintpaul that was found on the jalapeño pepper identical to the outbreak strain?
2. Where did the contamination originate – on the farm in Mexico, at the produce distributor, or somewhere in between?
3. Is there any connection between the contaminated jalapeño and tomatoes?
4. Does the distribution pattern of the jalapeño peppers correlate with the geographic distribution pattern of lab-confirmed outbreak cases?
5. What other produce does the McAllen distributor handle, and is there any chance that these other produce items might become contaminated through cross-contamination at the distributor?
6. Are any of these peppers still available for sale in retail stores?
7. Are any of these peppers still in the food service distribution network or in restaurant kitchens?

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The first Georgia lawsuit stemming from National E. coli outbreak linked to six states was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Valdosta Division against Nebraska Beef Limited.  The complaint was filed on behalf of Evelyn and John M. Stewart of Moultrie, Georgia.

The lawsuit states that on June 20, 2008 the Stewarts ate at the Barbeque Pit in Moultrie, Georgia.  Days later, Mrs. Stewart began having bloody diarrhea and signs of renal failure.  She was admitted to the Colquitt Regional Medical Center, where she tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 and was diagnosed with HUS, or Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a severe and life-threatening complication.  On June 26, she was transferred to the Archbold Memorial Hospital Medical Intensive Care Unit in Thomasville, GA, where she continues to battle the complications of the infection.

A cluster of E. coli illnesses appeared in Colquitt County in late June, and were traced to the Barbeque Pit, located at 311 First Ave. S.E., in Moultrie, Georgia.  The restaurant closed voluntarily on July 3, and has been involved in rigorous testing and disinfection procedures.  Eight cases of E. coli have been lab-confirmed, and four are pending results.  Four of the victims have developed HUS.  The Georgia cases have been genetically matched to the outbreak in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, New York, Utah, and Indiana.  The multi-state outbreak has been traced to tainted meat from Nebraska Beef Ltd. of Omaha, NE, which was a supplier to the Barbeque Pit in Moultrie.  At least 60 have fallen ill in seven states.  

“Where is the legislation to prevent these illnesses?” asks William Marler, the Stewart’s attorney.  “These people should not be in ICU, fighting for their lives, just because they went out to dinner.  We have the ability to legislate, regulate, and eliminate E. coli from our food supply, and we need to see Congressional action.”

“After changes in meat regulation dropped recall amounts from 23 million pounds in 2002 to only 181,900 pounds in 2006, 39 million pounds of E. coli tainted meat has been recalled since the spring of 2007.  The numbers have just shot up in the last year,” says Marler, “and so have illnesses.  If this was a serial killer—which, actually, it is—every resource in this country would have been mobilized against it.  Nothing less is acceptable.”

WALB TV reported – “A South Georgia family filed a lawsuit Monday over that E. coli outbreak in Moultrie.” As I said:

"The bottom line for us is Nebraska Beef has the opportunity and the obligation to make sure that this nasty bug is not on the meat that they sell to the public," said Attorney Bill Marler Esq., Marler Clark LLP PS of Seattle, Washington.

Marler is no stranger to food-borne illness, he filed the class action lawsuit against ConAgra Foods after that Sylvester Peanut Butter Salmonella outbreak last year. Marler told WALB News 10 that this isn't his first suit against Nebraska Beef.

"We sued Nebraska Beef based on a 2006 church supper up in upstate Minnesota, that killed a woman and put another in the hospital for months we sued on both those ladies behalves and interestingly Nebraska beef has cross claimed against the church," said Marler.

That case is still unresolved. Marler urges tougher legislation to prevent these illnesses, keeping people out of ICU. In Stewart's case, she continues to fight for her life, having undergone dialysis and plasma replacements and a seizure that stopped her breathing.

That's why they're asking Nebraska Beef to step up and help pay medical expenses that are expected to cost the family three quarters of a million dollars.

As the Moultrie Observer reported - First E. coli suit filed - Moultrian Evelyn Stewart represented by Seattle law firm

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According to the CDC since April, 1237 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. One new state, Montana, reported a case. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (16), Arizona (54), California (9), Colorado (16), Connecticut (4), Florida (3), Georgia (28), Idaho (6), Illinois (113), Indiana (18), Iowa (2), Kansas (19), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (36), Massachusetts (28), Michigan (24), Minnesota (22), Mississippi (2), Missouri (20), Montana (1), New Hampshire (5), Nevada (12), New Jersey (12), New Mexico (102), New York (38), North Carolina (23), Ohio (10), Oklahoma (25), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (12), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (9), Texas (475), Utah (2), Virginia (31), Vermont (2), Washington (17), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (13), and the District of Columbia (1). Five ill persons are reported from Canada; four appear to have been infected while traveling in the United States, and one illness remains under investigation.

Even the powerful Senate Agriculture Committee is weighing in.

Also, according to the CDC, Illnesses have been linked to consumption of an "item" containing fresh tomatoes and fresh jalapeño peppers.  Illnesses were also linked to an "item" containing fresh jalapeño peppers and no other of the suspect items.  The accumulated data from all investigations indicate that jalapeño peppers caused some illnesses but that they do not explain all illnesses.  Raw tomatoes, fresh serrano peppers, and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation.

The FDA has a slightly different take on this:

Consumers may resume enjoying any type of fresh tomato, including raw red plum, raw red Roma, and raw red round tomatoes.

While we are changing our consumer guidance about tomatoes, we reiterate our guidance to consumers that those in vulnerable populations (infants, the elderly, and immune-compromised people) should avoid eating jalapeño and serrano peppers as the investigation continues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that many, but not all, of the people who have become ill during the outbreak also reported eating jalapeño or serrano peppers.

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According to the CDC today, state departments of health and agriculture in several states, collaborating local health jurisdictions, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections.  As of July 17, 2008, 49 confirmed cases have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak. The number of cases in each state is as follows: Georgia (4), Indiana (1), Kentucky (1), Michigan (20), New York (1), Ohio (21), and Utah (1).  Their illnesses began between May 27 and July 1, 2008.  Twenty-seven persons have been hospitalized. According to the CDC only one patient (we believe it to be as many as 6) developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).  No deaths have been reported.  Twenty-eight (57%) patients are female.  The ages of patients range from 4 to 78 years; 47% are between 10 and 24 years old.  We will be filing a complaint against Nebraska Beef Ltd., on Monday on behalf of a Georgia woman still struggling with HUS.

In 2006 only 186,000 pounds of E. coli-tainted meat was recalled.  I have blogged about why the "Uptick" in 2007 and 2008, and why we are seeing a huge increase in E. coli cases in the last year.  Here are the names of the companies, the dates of the recalls, and the amounts in pounds and tons for 2007 and 2008 to date (I did not list the Westland/Hallmark 143,000,000 pound recall, because it was a Class II recall and stupid):

2007

Snapps Ferry 12/17/07 102
Blue Ribbon Meats 10/24/07 8,200
Natural State Meat Company 1/29/07 4,240
Tyson Fresh Meats 3/2/07 16,743
Richwood Meat Company 4/20/07 107,943
HFX, Inc 4/20/07 259,230
PM Beef Holdings 5/10/07 117,500
Davis Creek Meats 5/11/07 129,000
United Food Group 6/3-6/9/07 5,700,000
Abbott's Meat Inc 7/21/07 26,669
Custom Pack 7/25/07 5,920
Tyson Fresh Meats 6/8/07 40,440
Topps Meat Company 10/6/07 21,700,000
Impero Foods 9/29/07 65
Fairbank Farms 9/5/07 884
J&B Meats 10/13/07 173,554
Cargill 10/6/07 845,000
Cargill 11/3/07 1,084,384
Arko Veal Co 10/13/07 1,900
Del Mar Provision Company 10/27/07 50
American Foods Group 11/24/07 95,927
Totinos/General Mills 11/1/07 3,300,000
Washington Beef 7/15/07 82,286
Interstate Meat 8/30/07 41,305
Fresh Brands 12/27/07 14,800

Total for 2007 - 33,756,142 pounds - 16,878 tons

2008 - so far

Mark's Quality Meats 1/5/08 13,150
Rochester Meats 1/12/08 188,000
Fairbank Reconstruction Co 5/12/08 22,481
Dutch's Meats 6/8/08 13,275
Palama Holdings 5/8/08 68,670
JSM Meat Holdings 5/16/08 undetermined
Kroger 6/25 - 7/3/08 undetermined
Nebraska Beef 6/30 - 7/3/08 5,300,000

Total for 2008 - 5,605,576 pounds - 2,803 tons

The graph data above comes from the FSIS Raw Ground Beef testing program and are current through July 8, 2008.

For those shocked by those numbers, please read "Tainted Food: How To Combat Food Poisoning in the United States? Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama, are You Paying Attention?"

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No surprise to the folks sitting in the ICU waiting room of the Archbold Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia who I met with today.  Three women in ICU with families at their side – life should not hang in the balance at age 70 after going to a local restaurant you have visited for years.  A teenager should not be at risk of kidney failure after eating a burger.  An adult man should not lose weeks of work for eating out.  There are at least eight, and likely more to be counted, in the largest E. coli outbreak of 2008 - so far.

I only wish the lawyers and corporate executives of food companies could spend time with these families.  Perhaps if they saw what I saw today they would get the cow shit off their product.

I left Minneapolis at 6:00 AM this morning, flew to Memphis, then to Tallahassee and drove to Thomasville.  I just made it back to Seattle at 10:00 PM after retracing most of my steps.  It has been a long day.

Well, on to the news - according to a recent news report, Georgia has one lab-confirmed case (the rest will be counted soon) of a bacterial infection that is a molecular match to 44 previously reported cases in Michigan (where we will file suit next week), Ohio (where we have filed two suits), Indiana, Kentucky and New York, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  However, Georgia health officials are investigating at least seven more cases of E. coli, all of them in Colquitt County.  Beef from a Moultrie restaurant tested positive for E. coli and that beef has been linked to Nebraska Beef Ltd.

The outbreak has been traced to beef sold in Kroger supermarkets in Michigan and Ohio.  Kroger last month recalled (after some prompting) ground beef sold in Michigan and Ohio stores, and then this month expanded it to include other states.  Nebraska Beef Ltd. supplied the meat, ultimately recalling (after even more prompting) 5.3 million pounds of beef.

The local paper, the Moultrie Observer reported, "Local E. coli case linked to national outbreak."

• The CDC has now determined that it fit their case definition for the outbreak that began in Michigan and Ohio.

• CDC announced that New York, Kentucky and Indiana each had a lab-confirmed case of bacterial infection that matched the clusters in Michigan and Ohio that had been traced to beef sold in Kroger supermarkets. With the inclusion of Georgia, six states are now linked to the outbreak.

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For the last few days I have been in Walker Minnesota (half way between Fargo and Duluth) defending the depositions of two families impacted by E. coli-tainted Nebraska Beef in 2006.  One client suffered acute kidney failure and was on dialysis for nearly three weeks.  The other client is a widower.  His wife died after a month in the hospital - all just from eating Nebraska Beef hamburger at a church supper.  Now this recent outbreak is piling up victims too.

According to press reports, An E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has spawned cases in three other states, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.  New York, Kentucky and Indiana each have one lab-confirmed case of a bacterial infection that matches the 41 previously reported cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  All 44 illnesses in the outbreak are attributed to the same type of E. coli, one that causes a potentially deadly bacterial infection. The illnesses began between May 30 and June 24. CDC officials say 21 of the victims have been hospitalized and one developed kidney failure, but no one has died.  The nearly 10 Georgia E. coli cases are still under investigation.

Also had a nice chat with the new "lawblogger."
As the New York Magazine said:

• If more Manhattan attorneys had cars, perhaps their license plates would be as clever as Seattle-based food-borne-illness lawyer Bill Marler's plates, which say "E Coli." Heh. [Law Blog/WSJ]

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WALB TV reports today that Faye Bryant was transferred to the intermediate intensive care unit at Archbold Memorial Hospital last Saturday after her condition continued to get worsen.  The Bryant's ate at the Barbecue Pit Steak And Seafood restaurant in Moultrie 3 weeks ago. Health investigators say beef served at the popular restaurant is the source of an E. coli outbreak in Colquitt County.

According Faye Bryant’s daughter, Mrs. Bryant is now in a semi-conscious state…. Her kidneys' are working from 0 to 10%.... She goes everyday to dialysis…. She has to have plasma exchange and platelets…. Her platelets just got up today so she won't have to have that anymore…. They found out she's having mini-seizures. All from this.

Post-diarrheal Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (D+HUS) is a severe, life-threatening complication that occurs in about 10% of those infected with E. coli O157:H7 or other Shiga toxin (Stx) producing E. coli. D+HUS was first described in 1955, but was not known to be secondary to E. coli infections until 1982. It is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children. Adolescents and adults are also susceptible, as are the elderly who often succumb to the disease.

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According to Georgia Public Radio, several Moultrie residents have been infected with a harmful strain E. coli O157:H7, according to local health officials.

 The common link in all the cases is the consumption of meat supplied by Nebraska Beef limited.  The company has recalled five million pounds of beef because of suspected E. coli contamination.  Attorney Bill Marler is suing the company, and he says he expects even more recalls to be issued across the country as a result of the outbreak in Georgia.



"Retail outlets, whether it be Kroger or whomever, has an obligation to pull that product."

WALB TV:

"The ground beef that was tested from the restaurant has been confirmed to be positive for the e-coli," said Dr. Jacqueline Grant, S.W. Georgia Public Health Director.

The Health Department says the Barbecue Pit Restaurant makes its own hamburger meat. The contaminated beef in the sample has been traced to sirloin steak supplied by a middleman who is saying that it acquired beef products from Nebraska Beef.

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Again, according to the CDC, since April, 1065 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. One new state, Mississippi, reports ill persons. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (14), Arizona (49), California (9), Colorado (15), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (25), Idaho (5), Illinois (104), Indiana (16), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (26), Michigan (8), Minnesota (18), Mississippi (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (9), New Mexico (99), New York (30), North Carolina (14), Ohio (8), Oklahoma (24), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (12), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (8), Texas (408), Utah (2), Virginia (29), Vermont (2), Washington (11), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (11), and the District of Columbia (1). Four ill persons are reported from Canada; three appear to have been infected while traveling in the United States, and one illness remains under investigation.

Among the 762 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 26, 2008, including 315 who became ill on June 1 or later. Many steps must occur between a person becoming ill and the determination that the illness was caused by the outbreak strain of Salmonella; these steps take an average of 2-3 weeks. Therefore, an illness reported today may have begun 2-3 weeks ago. Patients range in age from <1 to 99 years; 46% are female. The rate of illness is highest among persons 20 to 29 years old; the rate of illness is lowest in children 10 to 19 years old and in persons 80 or more years old. At least 205 persons were hospitalized. One death in a man in Texas in his eighties has been associated with this outbreak. In addition, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death; the infection may have contributed to his death.

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E. coli reporter, Josh Funk, and I had a chance to talk a bit following my speech to ConAgra’s Food Safety Council about Nebraska Beef Ltd.’s slow response to indications that its products might have been tainted with E. coli.  According to the FSIS, “Nebraska Beef was notified in the first half of June that two samples of its trim to be used in ground beef had tested positive for E. coli.”  You must wonder when this company will get a clue.  Will it be more illnesses?  More recalls?  More lawsuits (we just filed another)?  Or, perhaps criminal sanctions?  The company's products have now been linked to E. coli illnesses affecting 49 people in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio.  The meat recall announced last week was expanded from 531,707 to 5.3 million pounds.

I also talked to the Omaha World Herald about why ConAgra asked me to come to Omaha to speak to its Food Safety Council and executives responsible for food safety.  As I said:

"Paying attention to food safety is ultimately good for the bottom line and good for your company morally," Marler said.

Too often, Marler said, companies either ignore or do not recognize warning signs of food borne illness.

Marler credited ConAgra Chief Executive Gary Rodkin and other company executives for inviting him to speak.

"It says a lot for the company," Marler said.

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The widening cluster of E. coli O157:H7 infections in Georgia may be linked to an outbreak E. coli illnesses in Ohio and Michigan. The Moultrie Observer reports that preliminary testing has linked the at least 9 Georgia cases to the 41 in Ohio and Michigan, which have been traced back to beef products from Nebraska Beef Ltd. of Omaha.

E. coli infections began showing up in central Ohio in mid-June, paralleled by a sharp increase in E. coli cases in Michigan. By June 20, officials had genetically linked many of the Ohio and Michigan cases; the days that followed, the outbreak was traced to ground beef from Kroger stores. With illnesses nearing 30, Kroger initiated a voluntary recall on June 25. On June 30, FSIS announced that the tainted meat had been traced back to Nebraska Beef Products, and a recall of 531,707 pounds of ground beef products was initiated. On July 2, the Kroger recall widened to 20 states. On July 3, the Nebraska Beef recall was widened to include 5.3 million pounds. Georgia is not on the Kroger recall list, but is part of the Nebraska Beef recall.

Nebraska Beef Ltd. is already enmeshed in lawsuits stemming from tainted meat. In 2006, seventeen people were infected with E. coli O157:H7 after eating Nebraska Beef products prepared at a church dinner; one woman died. Nebraska Beef responded by suing the church. A lawsuit has just been filed on behalf of an Ohio resident who became ill from eating Nebraska Beef products in the recent outbreak there.

We also filed an additional lawsuit against Nebraska Beef today.  The recent filing occurred today in the United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, on behalf of Pickerington, Ohio resident Dawn Grieves, who was infected with the toxic E. coli strain O157:H7 after eating ground beef processed by Nebraska Beef Ltd.

The lawsuit states that Ms. Grieves consumed Nebraska Beef Ltd products in the early part of June, 2008 and fell ill on June 5. She began to have increasingly severe symptoms including abdominal cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, which sent her to the emergency room on June 6. She was given medication and returned home. Her health continued to deteriorate, and when and samples taken during her ER visit revealed that she had been infected with E. coli O157:H7, she returned to the hospital. She was admitted on June 9 and remained there until June 13. She continues to recover from her illness.

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As I said to the Baltimore Sun about the confusion between tomatoes and Jalapenos:

"I've never seen a situation like this," William Marler, a Seattle lawyer who litigates food-borne illness claims, said in a recent interview.  A mistaken focus on tomatoes would be a "black eye" for investigators, he said, while acknowledging that produce investigations are difficult.

More than 1,000 people have gotten sick from salmonella initially linked to raw tomatoes.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today also implicated some types of hot peppers.  Certain raw tomatoes -- red round, plum and Roma -- remain a chief suspect. The FDA says people should avoid those tomatoes unless they were harvested in areas cleared of suspicion.  But people at highest risk of severe illness from salmonella also should not eat raw jalapeno and serrano peppers.  The feds say two deaths are associated with the outbreak -- a Texas man in his 80s, and another Texas man who died of cancer, but for whom salmonella may have played a role.  At least 203 people have been hospitalized.

As I said to CNN:

Bill Marler, food safety attorney: "It's possible that the CDC got this one wrong. But had they continued to wait, and wait, and wait until the data was perfect, we then would be criticizing them for letting ill people stack up."

Since April, 1017 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.  The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (14), Arizona (49), California (9), Colorado (13), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (24), Idaho (4), Illinois (100), Indiana (14), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (25), Michigan (8), Minnesota (15), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (9), New Mexico (98), New York (28), North Carolina (10), Ohio (8), Oklahoma (24), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (11), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (8), Texas (384), Utah (2), Virginia (29), Vermont (2), Washington (11), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (11), and the District of Columbia (1). Four ill persons are reported from Canada; three appear to have been infected while traveling in the United States, and one illness remains under investigation.

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See CNN Interview on CDC and FDA action to date.

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According to WALB TV 10:

A Moultrie restaurant bought tainted beef from a Nebraska distributor, which also supplied beef linked to an E. coli outbreak in Michigan and Ohio. The Barbeque Pit Steak and Seafood Restaurant voluntarily closed last Thursday at the request of the health department. Health officials called in the USDA who met Tuesday morning with the restaurant's owners and Public Health officials. They say the meat contaminated at the Moultrie restaurant was not ground beef, but it was beef from Nebraska Beef with the same date on it as the meat recalled in Michigan and Ohio.

My guess is that there will be more illnesses.

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You have to wonder if the folks who buy from Nebraska Beef have ever visited the plant?  Have they ever had the plant audited.  Have they ever reviewed the Non-compliance Reports?  Frankly, I think the grocery stores - especially the big box types - need to take a more active role in seeing that plants like this perform - that is - they do not produce meat products contaminated with E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, etc.  Perhaps stores should be less concerned about sales and more concerned with safety.

I am also still wondering if Nebraska Beef grinds hamburger and if that hamburger will be part of an expanded recall.  "Recall," it started at 500,000 pounds and then moved to 5,300,000 pounds based upon illnesses in Ohio and Michigan.  It now appears according to press reports, that Nebraska Beef E. coli meat is linked to illnesses in Georgia.

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According to CNN, “starting Monday, health inspectors will halt the shipment of ingredients common to Mexican cuisine from Mexico to the United States” – this will include cilantro, jalapeno peppers, Serrano peppers, scallions and bulb onions. I assume that it may still include tomatoes?

As for illnesses, the CDC reports that 943 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Nearly 150 have been hospitalized. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (10), Arizona (45), California (8), Colorado (12), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (24), Idaho (4), Illinois (93), Indiana (14), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (22), Michigan (7), Minnesota (8), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (9), New Mexico (98), New York (28), North Carolina (10), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (23), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (8), Texas (356), Utah (2), Virginia (29), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (10), and the District of Columbia (1). One ill person is reported from Ontario, Canada. 

According to the CDC, for every one person who is a stool-culture positive victim of salmonella in the United States, there a multiple of 38.5 who are also sick, but remain uncounted.  (See, AC Voetsch, “FoodNet estimate of the burden of illness caused by nontyphoidal salmonella infections in the United States,”Clinical Infectious Diseases 2004;38 (Suppl 3):S127-34).  That means that we are close to poisoning 38,000 people and we do not even know the vector. 

The fresh vegetable industry has been beating up on the CDC and FDA in recent days for picking tomatoes as the likely vector - some even ignoring the ill people and asking for government handouts to tomato growers.  So, why did the CDC and FDA pick tomatoes?  Well, according to the FDA,  during the past decade, the consumption of fresh and fresh-cut tomatoes has been linked to at least 12 different outbreaks of foodborne illness (most salmonella) in the United States. Those outbreaks include 1,840 confirmed cases of illness. The majority of these outbreaks have been traced to products from Florida and the eastern shore of Virginia; however, tomato-associated outbreaks also have been traced to tomatoes from California, Georgia, Ohio, and South Carolina.  Some examples:

In 1990, a reported 174 salmonella javiana illnesses were linked to raw tomatoes as part of a four-state outbreak. In 1993, 84 reported cases of salmonella montevideo were part of a three-state outbreak. In January 1999, salmonella baildon was recovered from 86 infected persons in eight states. In July 2002, an outbreak of salmonella javiana occurred associated with attendance at the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games held in Orlando, Florida during late June of that year. Ultimately, the outbreak investigation identified 141 ill persons in 32 states who attended the games. All were linked to consumption of raw tomatoes.

During August and September 2002, a salmonella newport outbreak affected the East Coast. Ultimately, over 404 confirmed cases were identified in over 22 states. Epidemiological analysis indicated that tomatoes were the most likely vehicle, and were traced back to the same tomato packing facility in the mid-Atlantic region.

In early July 2004, as many as 564 confirmed cases of salmonellosis associated with consumption of contaminated tomatoes purchased at Sheetz Convenience Store were reported in five states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia. Seventy percent were associated with tomatoes in food prepared at Sheetz convenience stores.

In 2006 two outbreaks of salmonella-tainted tomatoes where reported by the FDA. One was blamed for nearly 100 illnesses in 19 states. FDA also traced tomatoes involved in another outbreak involving 183 people in 21 states. For more information on Salmonella visit www.about-salmonella.com and www.salmonellalitigation.com.

On the other hand I could not find a Jalapeno outbreak tied to salmonella at all and only two possibly linked to Hepatitis A and Norovirus.  Heck,  at Virginia Tech researchers found that "Hot pepper oil may prevent salmonella in poultry."  Cilantro too, well, in fact studies have shown that salsa kills salmonella?  Researchers thought they had identified a compound in cilantro, a key flavor component of salsa and a variety of other dishes, that kills harmful salmonella bacteria and shows promise as a safe, natural food additive that could help prevent foodborne illness, according to a joint study by U.S. and Mexican researchers. 

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The Moultrie Observer reported on the link between ill people in Ohio and Michigan to at least nine in Georgia – “E. coli: Ground beef may be culprit.”  The common denominator here is Nebraska Beef Ltd. (Remember, the guys who sue a church).  You might recall www.efoodalert predicted this on July 2, 2008.

Here is the key:  “A specimen sample from one of the patients resulted in a match to the same strain of E. coli bacteria in disease outbreaks in Michigan and Ohio, and those illnesses are linked to ground beef. “The National Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and state epidemiologists agree that ground beef may be a source of the infection in Colquitt County.”  Nebraska Beef has recalled 5,300,000 pounds of meat.

Ground beef is used in some of the dishes served in the Barbecue Pit, a Moultrie restaurant that has voluntarily closed as disease investigators attempt to find the source of E. coli O157:H7 contamination. A common thread among patients with confirmed cases of the disease is that they ate at the restaurant.

The tally of confirmed E. coli cases has now climbed to six, with three more cases still considered probable. The three “probable” E. coli patients have hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).  Laura Hall Bannister of Moultrie was one of the first ill reported.  Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (D+HUS) is a severe, life-threatening complication that occurs in about 10% of those infected with E. coli O157:H7 or other Shiga toxin (Stx) producing E. coli.  D+HUS was first described in 1955, but was not known to be secondary to E. coli infections until 1982. It is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children.  Adolescents and adults are also susceptible, as are the elderly who often succumb to the disease.  We are now involved with at least three suits against Nebraska Beef:

Kroger E coli Outbreak Litigation

An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in June, 2008 was traced to Kroger stores in Ohio and Michigan. Kroger began a voluntary recall of certain ground beef products on June 25.  On June 26, it was revealed that the meat was supplied by Nebraska Beef.   Marler Clark filed the first lawsuit stemming from the outbreak on behalf of an Ohio resident on June 30, 2008.

Nebraska Beef E. coli Litigation

In 2006, meat manufactured by Nebraska Beef, distributed by Interstate Meat, and sold by Tabaka’s Supervalu was identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak among residents of and visitors to Longville, Minnesota.  An outbreak investigation conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture led to the conclusion that 17 people who had eaten ground beef purchased at Tabaka’s Supervalu and consumed either in private homes or at a dinner prepared at the Salem Lutheran Church in Longville had become ill with E. coli infections.  Three people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one person died.

And, several E. coli cases in Georgia:

Bauer Meat E. coli Litigation – Georgia

Excel E. coli Outbreak – Georgia

White Water Water Park E. coli Outbreak - Georgia

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First it was Tomatoes, now it is Peppers? Jonathan Rockoff of the Baltimore Sun has continued on the trail of the likely ingredients of salsa that has sickened nearly 1,000 across the country over the last three months. However, like tomatoes:

So far, none of the jalapenos taken from restaurants and from the homes of those who became ill have tested positive for Salmonella Saintpaul. Echoing federal officials, who said this week that tomatoes remain the prime suspect, the health officials said that tomatoes cannot be ruled out as the cause of the outbreak. Investigators have been collecting samples of another possible suspect, cilantro, though the herb is less likely to be the source, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.


One health official involved in the investigation said "loose ends" are keeping tomatoes under suspicion, but the official said they could be accounted for easily. The official said evidence is "piling up" that indicates that jalapenos are to blame. 

"There's certainly no shred of doubt in my mind," the official said. Another health official was more cautious, saying that the evidence is pointing to peppers but that there is not yet enough information to rule out tomatoes.

Hmm, now it is clear?

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As of 5pm EST, July 2, 2008, 41 confirmed cases have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak, 21 in Michigan and 20 in Ohio. Onset of illness in these patients occurred from 5/30/08 to 6/20/08. Twenty-two ill persons have been hospitalized. One patient has developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths linked to the outbreak have been reported. Twenty-four (59%) patients are female. Patients range in age from 4 to 78 years with a median age of 20 years.

State health and agriculture departments have tested ground beef recovered from patient residences and purchased at Kroger® retail stores in Michigan and Ohio. Molecular fingerprinting testing conducted by the Ohio and Michigan Departments of Health and Agriculture Laboratories, in collaboration with PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, on E. coli O157:H7 isolates isolated from these ground beef samples have confirmed the isolates to be the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7.

On June 25, 2008, a recall was announced for ground beef sold at Kroger® Co. Stores in Michigan and Ohio. On June 30, 2008, a second recall of 531,707 pounds of ground beef components from Nebraska Beef Ltd. was announced. On July 3, 2008, Nebraska Beef Ltd. expanded the June 30 recall to include all beef manufacturing trimmings and other products intended for use in raw ground beef produced between May 16 and June 26, 2008, totaling approximately 5.3 million pounds.

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922 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 40 states and the District of Columbia.  Two new states, Iowa and Louisiana, report ill persons. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (10), Arizona (45), California (8), Colorado (12), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (22), Idaho (4), Illinois (91), Indiana (14), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (22), Michigan (7), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (6), New Mexico (95), New York (26), North Carolina (10), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (23), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (7), Texas (356), Utah (2), Virginia (29), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (10), and the District of Columbia (1)

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I admit it. I know too much. I have been to too many slaughterhouses and Hospital ICUs – my family does not eat hamburger.  I would not eat it, I do not cook it and I certainly do not serve it.  That is my tip.  Just say No!  Or as I told Misti the Columbus Dispatch reporter:

Most cooks don't consider that their food might be poisonous, said William Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents people sickened by contaminated food.

But Marler doesn't have to worry much about etiquette at the barbecue.

He's never invited.

However, for those not able to remain just tempted, the Columbus Dispatch has a list: Continue Reading...

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Well it is great to see that our exports are picking up given the tough business climate we are in.  However, I am not sure exporting ill people across the Canadian Border is really the way to pick up new business.

Canada finds first case linked to U.S. salmonella outbreak in returning traveller

Canadian authorities have found a case of Salmonella Saintpaul, the strain behind the massive salmonella outbreak in the United States.  The Public Health Agency of Canada says a person from Ontario was sickened by a strain of the bacteria with the same genetic fingerprint as the one responsible for the U.S. outbreak. The person, who became sick in early June, had just returned from travelling in the United States when the illness struck.  Agency epidemiologist Andrea Ellis says it seems clear the person became infected south of the border.  She says there's no indication that the contaminated food responsible for the U.S. outbreak has made its way to Canada.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says 922 cases have been confirmed in 40 states and the District of Columbia.  While earlier in the outbreak it was thought certain types of tomatoes were responsible, the investigation has been broadened to look at whether ingredients that go into fresh salsa could be the cause

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Well, my guess last night was correct, FSIS just issued this release:

Nebraska Firm Expands Recall of Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination
Recall Release CLASS I RECALL
FSIS-RC-022-2008 HEALTH RISK: HIGH

Nebraska Beef, Ltd., an Omaha, Neb., establishment is expanding its June 30 recall to include all beef manufacturing trimmings and other products intended for use in raw ground beef produced between May 16 and June 26, totaling approximately 5.3 million pounds [2,650 Tons], that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.  This recall is being expanded based on the ongoing epidemiological and traceback investigations of a foodborne illness outbreak.

Here is the kicker and the likely killer of Nebraska Beef:

FSIS has concluded that the production practices employed by Nebraska Beef, Ltd. are insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7 in their beef products that are intended for grinding. The products subject to recall may have been produced under insanitary conditions.

The products subject to recall were further processed into ground beef at other firms, and will likely not bear the establishment number "EST 19336" on products made available for direct consumer purchase.

The epidemiological investigations and a case control study conducted by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and 40 illnesses reported in Michigan (21) and Ohio (19). The illnesses were linked through the epidemiological investigation and by their PFGE pattern, or DNA fingerprint, found in PulseNet, a database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also as a result of the investigation, on June 25 FSIS announced a recall of ground beef products sold at Kroger retail establishments in Michigan and in Central and Northwestern Ohio.

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Today, Kroger expanded its recall of some ground beef products to its stores in more than 20 states, saying the meat may be contaminated with E. coli.  Kroger's recall stems from meat obtained from Nebraska Beef Ltd. that has been linked to some 50 illnesses reported in Michigan and Ohio between May 31 and June 8.  Nebraska Beef has recalled from wholesalers and other processing companies nearly 532,000 pounds of meat produced on five dates between May 16 and June 24.  Interestingly, Nebraska Beef’s recall is for trim and intact cuts of meat, but not hamburger.  Does Nebraska Beef grind Hamburger?  If so, where and why no recall of it?  Perhaps that will be the recall of the day?

Kroger initiated a recall June 25 for Kroger stores in Michigan and in central and northern Ohio.  The expanded recall includes ground beef sold at Fred Meyer, QFC, Ralphs, Smith's, Baker's, King Soopers, City Markets, Hilander, Owen's, Pay Less and Scott's with overlapping sell-by dates from mid-May through mid-July.

I did speak to Laura Gunderson of the Portland Oregonian in story about the “Beef Recall Hits Oregon and Washington.” In our discussion about Nebraska Beef’s past litigation and its Press Statement of a few days ago she wrote:

In a statement issued with the recall, Nebraska Beef officials wrote, "Since inception in 1995, the company has processed over 10 billion pounds of product without a confirmed customer illness."

But a Seattle lawyer isn't swayed.

Bill Marler, whose firm specializes in food-poisoning cases, sued Kroger and Nebraska Beef this week on behalf of a consumer who he said tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 after eating ground beef sold at a Kroger store in Dublin, Ohio.

Marler also is suing Nebraska Beef over a 2006 E. coli outbreak after a church potluck in Minnesota that killed a 73-year-old woman and sickened 16 other people. In that case, Marler said, he found Nebraska Beef had detected trimmings, such as fat and bone, contaminated with E. coli. The trimmings were tossed, Marler said, but not the actual meat that had been distributed. The meat, Marler said, was later genetically matched to some of the sick churchgoers' stools.

The company, in turn, sued its distributors and the church, Salem Lutheran of Longville, Minn. The company's legal team had the church's pastor give a deposition last week, Marler said.

In the past, Nebraska Beef's representatives have pointed out that the church women's auxiliary may have introduced contamination as they molded meatballs for a monthly fundraiser.

Marler said it would be uncommon for a slaughterhouse to perform an unnecessary recall.
"If they didn't sicken people," he said, referring to Nebraska Beef's statement earlier this week, "why would they voluntarily withdraw the meat?"

Nebraska Beef successfully sued the USDA in January 2003 to block the federal agency from shutting down one of its plants after the agency said it found E. coli-contaminated meat at a company subsidiary. The agency argued that serious food-safety violations warranted closure of the plant, which it said had a documented history of unsanitary conditions and violations.

Nebraska Beef argued that a closure could cost it $2.7 million a day and 1,100 jobs and drive the company out of business.

A federal judge granted Nebraska Beef a restraining order and a few weeks later the company agreed to a settlement with the agency that included additional food-safety monitoring. Soon after, the USDA dinged the company with nearly 60 noncompliance reports.

In May 2007, Nebraska Beef sued the agency -- and nine of its employees -- to argue that the inspectors had unfairly targeted its plant. The case was later dismissed.

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The CDC says now that we have 887 people infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 38 states and the District of Columbia.  Two new states, Alabama and South Carolina, report ill persons.  The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (10), Arizona (44), California (8), Colorado (11), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (22), Idaho (4), Illinois (91), Indiana (11), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (21), Michigan (6), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (11), New Jersey (6), New Mexico (90), New York (26), North Carolina (5), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (23), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (6), Texas (354), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1).

The produce industry is calling for "investigations" (hmmm, where have they been in the last several years as they have poisoned thousands?) to see why the CDC and FDA may have picked tomatoes instead of Salsa as the vector for all these illnesses.  The USA Today quotes me as saying:

Bill Marler, one of the nation's leading food-safety attorneys, says the FDA can't be faulted for acting in the absence of a "smoking tomato" laced with the salmonella bacteria.

"Should they have waited until they knew exactly what it was? Well, whose side do they want to come down on: the side of public health and kids or the produce industry?" Marler asks.

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Read this carefully (and see expanded discussion at efoodalert:

Kroger Co. has expanded last week's voluntary recall of tainted ground beef products sold in stores in Michigan and Ohio, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture identified the supplier as Nebraska Beef Ltd.  Kroger said late Tuesday the recall now includes ground-beef products in Styrofoam tray packages wrapped in clear cellophane or bought from an in-store service counter.

Customers should check if they bought meat at Fred Meyer or QFC stores with "sell-by" dates between May 21 and July 5 or at Kroger stores between May 21 and July 3.  Kroger stores in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Knoxville, Tenn. are not involved.  Customers should check if they bought meat in Kroger's Mid-Atlantic division, which includes stores in North Carolina, Northeastern Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia with "sell-by" dates between May 19 to June 6.

Other meat being recalled includes these stores and sell buy dates:

Fry's - May 21 to July 3

Ralphs - May 21 to July 3

Smith's - May 21 to July 3

Baker's - May 17-June 4

King Soopers - June 20-July 3

City Market - June 20-July 3

Customers who shop at Hilander, Owen's, Pay Less, and Scott's should follow the "sell-by" dates listed above for Kroger stores.  Kroger also recalled Private Selection Natural ground beef sold in 16-ounce packages with "sell-by" dates July 11 to July 21. The product was available at all Kroger stores as well as Dillons, Fred Meyer, Baker's, Smith's and Fry's.

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OK, I have been a bit focused on the evil ways of Nebraska Beef Ltd., and E. coli O157:H7 over the last few days and have not posted much on the Tomato, hmmmm, “other vegetable” salmonella outbreak.  Well, it is good to know that the FDA and CDC are “testing numerous other types of fresh produce in the hunt for the source of the nation's record salmonella outbreak -- even as [they] insist tomatoes remain the leading suspect.”  See bottom right.

Well, as the FDA searches for the “killer vegetable," the CDC reports on the number of ill - Since April, 869 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 36 states and the District of Columbia.  The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows:

Arkansas (10 persons), Arizona (41), California (10), Colorado (11), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (20), Idaho (3), Illinois (91), Indiana (11), Kansas (14), Kentucky (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (21), Michigan (6), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (11), New Jersey (6), New Mexico (90), New York (26), North Carolina (5), Ohio (7), Oklahoma (23), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (346), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1).

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In a press release issued today, Nebraska Beef tries to downplay the seriousness of its recall of over 265 tons of ground beef, beef chuck, other beef products because of possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. It self-servingly claims, "The Company has processed over 10 billion pounds of product without a confirmed customer illness." Of course, Nebraska Beef does not bother to define what it would consider a "confirmed customer illness." But apparently the amount of evidence that Nebraska Beef would require is a lot higher than the USDA and the CDC required in deciding to press for the Class I Recall, based on "a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death. See USDA Recall Release, 022-2008, June 30, 2008.

Furthermore, Nebraska Beef's track record is hardly as problem-free as it appears to suggest. In a New York Times article,  published on January 23, 2003, it was reported that:

The Agriculture Department will argue in Federal District Court on Thursday that the plant, Nebraska Beef Ltd., should be effectively shut down after numerous citations for unsanitary conditions. The investigation last August of the Omaha slaughterhouse was sparked by the discovery of hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, some of which was supplied by Nebraska Beef.

After reaching a consent decree with the USDA, months later Nebraska Beef sued both the Agency and USDA inspectors after it received 58 noncompliance records (NR's) for unsafe or unsanitary practices. See Nebraska Beef v. USDA, 2004 USDA Dist. LEXIS 4993 (Mar. 18, 2004). Among other things, Nebraska Beef challenged the legality of the HACCP and sanitation regulations that the USDA had enacted to protect the public. Nebraska Beef's legal claims against the USDA inspectors were later dismissed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals as being legally and factually baseless. See Nebraska Beef v. Greening, et al., 398 F.3d 1080 (2005). As of an August 15, 2007 decision in which the court noted that the "case, in one form or another, has languished in this court since 2003," Nebraska Beef was still pressing on in its attempts to have a court declare that it does not have to follow USDA regulations intended to protect the public.

In yet another New York Times article on Nebraska Beef published June 8, 2008, "Out of a Church Kitchen and Into the Courts," Nebraska Beef again became famous; this time for suing a church in upstate Minnesota that, along with other area restaurants used Nebraska Beef E. coli-tainted hamburger in a church potluck.

Some News coverage:

E. coli-infected resident to sue Nebraska beef supplier

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Well guess what, you sue a church and lightening strikes you - Nebraska Beef, Ltd., is now, not only responsible for sickening a bunch of people at a church picnic and killing one church lady, but also is now responsible for a new Class 1, High Health risk recall of 531,707 pounds of "ground beef components" that were contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced a few moments ago.

The E. coli O157:H7 tainted Nebraska Beef was discovered by FSIS through traceback investigations and ground beef samples collected from two federally inspected establishments positive for E. coli O157:H7, as well as multiple samples of Kroger brand ground beef positive for E. coli O157:H7, with matching pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns.

Kroger brand ground beef samples were collected by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health from patients in Michigan and Ohio. Nebraska Beef, Ltd., was identified as a common supplier to those stores in addition to two federally inspected establishments where FSIS obtained a positive ground beef sample that was matched to the outbreak strain identified in Michigan and Ohio.

The epidemiological investigations and a case control study conducted by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and 35 illnesses reported in Michigan (17) and Ohio (18). The illnesses were linked through the epidemiological investigation and by their PFGE pattern, or DNA fingerprint, found in PulseNet, a database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak Linked to Kroger Hamburger

Although Ohio and Michigan officials count nearly 50 ill, the CDC announced today that 35 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak, 17 in Michigan and 18 in Ohio.  The onset of illness in these patients occurred from 5/30/08 to 6/14/08. Nineteen ill persons have been hospitalized.  One patient has developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).  No deaths linked to the outbreak have been reported.  Twenty-two (63%) of patients are female.  Patients range in age from 4 to 78 years with a median age of 22 years.

Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak Linked to What?

After the tomato industry was thrown under the bus, the CDC announced today that it was only "an initial epidemiologic investigation comparing foods eaten by ill and well persons identified consumption of raw tomatoes as strongly linked to illness.  Recently, many clusters of illnesses have been identified in Texas and other states among persons who ate at restaurants.  These clusters have led us to broaden the investigation to be sure that it encompasses food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes." 

The CDC also announced new numbers - 851 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 36 states and the District of Columbia.  The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (10 persons), Arizona (39), California (10), Colorado (11), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (18), Idaho (3), Illinois (91), Indiana (11), Kansas (14), Kentucky (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (21), Michigan (6), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (4), New Jersey (4), New Mexico (90), New York (26), North Carolina (5), Ohio (6), Oklahoma (19), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (346), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1).  Among the 581 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 20, 2008, including 173 who became ill on June 1 or later.

USA Today reports that, “CDC broadens its investigation of salmonella outbreak.”

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We will file the first E. coli lawsuit in the Ohio and Michigan E. coli outbreak Monday in the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, Ohio against Kroger and its as yet unidentified meat supplier (“John Doe”).  The complaint was filed on behalf of a New Albany resident who was infected with the toxic E. coli strain O157:H7 after eating ground beef purchased from a Dublin, Ohio Kroger.

The lawsuit states that the plaintiff purchased beef patties from the Kroger at 7100 Perimeter Loop Road in Dublin on June 4.  She cooked and consumed the beef that same day.  She began feeling ill on June 8, and over the next two days her symptoms became increasingly severe.  By June 10, she was experiencing intense nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps.  She was admitted to the hospital, where she tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.  She was released on June 12, and continues to recover from her illness.

E. coli illnesses began showing up in central Ohio in mid-June.  This was paralleled by a sharp increase in E. coli cases in Michigan.  By June 20, officials had genetically linked many of the Ohio and Michigan cases; the days that followed, the outbreak was traced to ground beef from Kroger stores.  With illnesses nearing 30, Kroger initiated a voluntary recall on June 25.  The products subject to recall include all varieties and weights of ground beef products bearing a Kroger label sold between May 21 and June 8 at Michigan stores, as well as Kroger stores in Columbus and Toledo, Ohio.  These ground beef products are marked with a sell-by date between 05/21/08 and 06/08/08.

Since the spring of 2007 over 34 million pounds of E. coli contaminated beef has been recalled by different companies.  Kroger has recalled beef and beef products at least five times over the last seven years:

· 2001: Excel Corporation of Newnan, GA recalled 190,000 pounds of fresh ground beef and pork that had been distributed to Kroger stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

· 2002: Kroger stores in 18 states recalled ConAgra ground beef products. In all, 18.6 million pounds of beef was recalled.  45 People in 23 states became ill with E. coli from the tainted meat. One woman in Ohio died.

· 2002 - One store in Arkansas recalled 240 pounds ground beef, no illnesses.

· 2003: Green Bay Dressed Beef doing business as American Foods Group recalled 106,000 pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef products distributed under the Kroger logo.

· 2007 - United Food Group recalled 5.7 million pounds of beef, including ground beef sold at Kroger.

News Coverage to date:

Ohio woman files E. coli lawsuit against Kroger

E. coli lawsuit names Kroger, beef suppliers

Lawsuit filed against Kroger in E. coli case

Marler Clark Files First E. coli Lawsuit in Kroger Tainted Ground Beef Recall

Seattle, Cleveland firms file E. coli lawsuit in state

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The Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed 17 E. coli cases that are genetically linked and over half of those cases have either prepared or consumed hamburger meat from Kroger. 11 of these cases required hospitalization. The 17 genetically linked cases, E. coli O157:H7, are present in seven Michigan counties including Eaton (1), Macomb (3), Washtenaw (4), Saginaw (1), Genesee (1), Wayne (3) and Oakland (4).

The Ohio Department of Health is reporting 22 confirmed and probable cases of E. coli O157:H7, 18 of which are confirmed and linked to the outbreak in Michigan and Ohio. The cases are in Franklin (10 confirmed, one probable); Delaware (one confirmed); Fairfield (four confirmed); Lucas (one confirmed, three probable); Seneca (one confirmed); and Union (one confirmed) counties.

Since the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993, we have been involved in every major E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in the country. Keep reading below:
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Delivrine Registre of Albany Georgia station WALB reports that an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least one young woman in Albany may be responsible for the illnesses of a dozen others.  As she reports, the investigation into the source an E. coli outbreak in Colquitt County continues.  At least a dozen people have shown up at the emergency room this week with symptoms similar to those caused by E. coli bacteria.  So far 15-year-old Lauren Hill Bannister is the only confirmed case of E. coli.  Health officials believe the common link is ground beef.

We have been involved in many outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 since the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993, including many in Georgia.  See, Marler Clark E. coli Litigation.  Recently, we have been investigating E. coli illnesses in Ohio, Michigan and Alabama that all appeared tied to hamburger consumption.  Since the Spring of 2007, E. coli related Illnesses and Meat recalls have been on the rise.  Nearly 25 recalls have occurred amounting to over 34,000,000 pounds of meat.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 1999 that 73,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7 occur each year in the United States. Approximately 2,000 people are hospitalized, and 60 people die as a direct result of E. coli O157:H7 infections and complications, like Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.  The majority of infections are thought to be foodborne-related, although E. coli O157:H7 accounts for less than 1% of all foodborne illness.

While the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with E. coli O157:H7 have involved ground beef, such outbreaks have also involved unpasteurized apple and orange juice, unpasteurized milk, alfalfa sprouts, and water.  An outbreak can also be caused by person-to-person transmission of the bacteria in homes and in settings like daycare centers, hospitals, and nursing homes.

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According to Sarah Tompkins of the Detroit Free Press, the search for bad ground beef is now down to 2 Kroger suppliers. Wouldn't it be sweet justice if the source of this outbreak winds up being Nebraska Beef - recently famous for suing a church in upstate Minnesota.  You must read the New York Times piece - "Out of a Church Kitchen and Into the Courts."  My favorite quotes:

Denis W. Stearns, a Seattle lawyer who represents Mr. Hawkinson and Ms. Wheeler, said it was unusual but not unprecedented for a meat company to sue the victims. His colleague, Bill Marler, is less diplomatic, calling Nebraska Beef’s lawsuit “one of the boldest, yet boneheaded, moves I have ever seen.”

As for suing the church, Mr. Gordon argued that the smorgasbord wasn’t a casual family dinner, but a money-making project for the church that was open to anyone willing to pay the freight.

“When you are running it as a money-making venture, why should you be any different from McDonald’s?” Mr. Gordon said. “Nobody is suing the old ladies, to use your term. In the same way that when McDonald’s gets sued, no one sues the nice teenage kid behind the counter.”

At least not yet.

According to Ms. Tompkins, as of Friday evening, health officials in Michigan and Ohio reported 47 confirmed and suspected cases of E. coli O157:H7.  Eleven Michiganders were hospitalized, including one treated for kidney failure (HUS).

It is concerning as of this date, Kroger and the FSIS are unable to say which of two suppliers are the source of the E. coli contamination.  Frankly, there are only a couple of reasons for that:  1) Kroger's record keeping of its meat purchase and grinding records make it unclear which producer supplied meat on what day to which store, and 2) that contamination occurred at Kroger's itself (not likely, but possible.  Perhaps our lawsuit on Monday will shake loose the answer.

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As of 4 pm on June 27, the Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed 17 E. coli O157:H7 cases that are genetically linked and over half of those cases have either prepared or consumed hamburger meat from Kroger. 11 of these cases required hospitalization. The 17 genetically linked cases, E. coli O157:H7, are present in seven Michigan counties including Eaton (1), Macomb (3), Washtenaw (4), Saginaw (1), Genesee (1), Wayne (3) and Oakland (4).  In addition there are 8 other cases under investigation.

The Ohio Department of Health is reporting 22 confirmed and probable cases of E. coli O157:H7, 18 of which are confirmed and linked to the outbreak in Michigan and Ohio. The cases are in Franklin (10 confirmed, 1probable); Delaware (1 confirmed); Fairfield (4 confirmed); Lucas (1 confirmed, 3 probable); Seneca (1 confirmed); and Union (1).

We have been contacted by over a dozen individuals and families who believe they are linked to this outbreak.  We are completing our investigation on 5 that are genetically linked to Kroger meat.  Late Friday afternoon we filed the first case against Kroger and "John Doe Suppliers" as, despite repeated requests, Kroger refused to identify the supplier who provided it E. coli-contaminated product.

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From a CDC/FDA Press Conference today:

As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak - or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly harvested tomatoes.  Federal health officials say there's no evidence clearing tomatoes.  But inspectors haven't yet found the outbreak's source even as cases continue to rise - to 810 confirmed ill.  Most worrisome, the latest victim became sick on June 15.   Patricia Griffin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the agency is looking into other ingredients, just in case tomatoes were not to blame.

CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the Indian Health Service, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate an ongoing multi-state outbreak of human Salmonella serotype Saintpaul infections. An epidemiologic investigation comparing foods eaten by ill and well persons has identified consumption of raw tomatoes as the likely source of the illnesses. The specific type and source of tomatoes is under investigation; however, the data suggest that illnesses are linked to consumption of raw red plum, red Roma, or round red tomatoes, or any combination of these types of tomatoes, and to products containing these raw tomatoes.

Since April, 810 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 36 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. Maine and Minnesota have been added to the list of states with ill persons. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (10 persons), Arizona (39), California (10), Colorado (8), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (18), Idaho (3), Illinois (78), Indiana (11), Kansas (14), Kentucky (1), Maine (1), Maryland (25), Massachusetts (18), Michigan (4), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (4), New Jersey (4), New Mexico (85), New York (25), North Carolina (5), Ohio (6), Oklahoma (19), Oregon (7), Pennsylvania (6), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (342), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (1), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1).

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Once again, FSIS and a retailer drag their feet in naming the names of the suppliers.

Although the numbers seem to shift a bit, according to the Michigan and Ohio Health Departments and media reports, it appears that at least 18 have been sickened with E. coli O157:H7 in Ohio and Michigan my have more than 17 ill.  The last reported illness onset is June 20 (five days before the recall).  The outbreak started earlier this month and yesterday prompted Kroger to recall an unspecified amount of meat sold at its stores between May 21 and June 8.  Several have been hospitalized, one developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.

Kroger finally announced Wednesday it was recalling all ground beef products with sell-by dates between May 21 and June 8.  However, Kroger declined Thursday to release the number of meat suppliers it works with to supply its more than 2,470 supermarkets and stores in 31 states.  FSIS too refused to name name – yet.  FSIS also would not release information about the number or names of suppliers undergoing investigation, citing Kroger's “proprietary business relations.”

As I said in a post in March of this year, “When is a Recall, not a Recall?”

So, here is the rub: Richard Raymond, the USDA undersecretary for food safety, said USDA regulations prevent the department from disclosing Hallmark/Westland's customers because such information is considered proprietary. Food safety groups have argued for lifting that restriction, saying it would give consumers more information during recalls, while some food industry groups have opposed it.

So, it is really time to change the rule. Recalls should be real, they should be complete and they should be transparent. The goal should be to protect consumers not a company’s customer list.

Nothing changes.  Kroger should know who supplied the meat to these Michigan and Ohio stores.  It should have grinding records so any E. coli O157:H7 contamination can be linked - quickly - back to the slaughter plant.  Its failure to do so to date may mean that its record keeping is not what it should be.  If that is the case, Krogers (which, because it regrinds meat in store, is strictly liable under the law as a "manufacturer" of E. coli-tainted hamburger) may be left holding the bag instead of pointing fingers.

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Great to see that FSIS and Kroger recalled the meat.  The current Kroger ground beef recall is not the first experience Kroger has had with contaminated meat. Not only has Kroger been involved in E. coli outbreaks in the past, but in 2002, a resident of Gahanna, Ohio (where the first E. coli illness of the current outbreak was documented) was infected with E. coli from meat purchased at Kroger and did not survive the illness. She was also a Kroger employee.

2001: Excel Corporation of Newnan, GA recalled 190,000 pounds of fresh ground beef and pork that had been distributed to Kroger stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

2002: Kroger stores in 18 states recalled ConAgra ground beef products. In all, 18.6 million pounds of beef was recalled. 45 People in 23 states became ill with E. coli from the tainted meat. One woman in Ohio died.

2002 - One store in Arkansas recalled 240 pounds ground beef, no illnesses.

2003: Green Bay Dressed Beef doing business as American Foods Group recalled 106,000 pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef products distributed under the Kroger logo.

2007 - United Food Group recalled 5.7 million pounds of beef, including hamburger sold at Krogers.

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756 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 34 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The increase in reported ill persons since the last update is not thought to be due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed. No new states report ill people. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (10 persons), Arizona (38), California (10), Colorado (6), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (15), Idaho (3), Illinois (66), Indiana (11), Kansas (11), Kentucky (1), Maryland (25), Massachusetts (17), Michigan (4), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (4), New Jersey (4), New Mexico (80), New York (18), North Carolina (5), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (17), Oregon (7), Pennsylvania (6), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (330), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (1), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1).

Rumors abound that the supplier is to be named shortly.  Will it be one of the many who supplied tomatoes in an earlier outbreak.  My bet is yes.

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Recall, Recall, where is the recall? We know that dozens of people are sickened in Michigan in Ohio, but FSIS/USDA has not issued a recall?  I can not imagine why there would not be, perhaps they thought since we are focused on tomatoes no one would notice?  We have also been contacted by victims in other states who may be linked to a nationwide E. coli outbreak.

According to press report late last night, 15 Michiganders affected in a recent E. coli outbreak (number may be as high as 35) reported purchasing and consuming ground beef from Kroger stores, the Michigan Department of Community Health announced Tuesday.  The same genetic strain of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria also has been confirmed in illnesses among 10 of 16.

Although Kroger has been linked as the source of the meat purchased. A question arises were the meat came from. Early press reports from the Ohio papers suggested that Dutch's Meat in New Jersey’s recall of 13,275 pounds of hamburger on June 8 after discovering that it might have been tainted with the sometimes-lethal bacteria might be linked.  However, Dutch's gets its meat from three or four suppliers.  If the strains match, it's possible that one of those companies sold him tainted meat and also distributed that meat to Ohio, Michigan and elsewhere, he said.  Granaldi would not name a meat supplier but said that one in the Midwest might be the source.  "They probably distribute all over the country," he said.

Over the years we have done several dozen food cases in Michigan: Black Forest Bakery Salmonella Case, Dole Spinach E. coli Case, ConAgra Potpie Salmonella Case and Bravo Cucina Italiana Norovirus Case.  And, in Ohio: King Garden, E. coli Case, Corky and Lenny Salmonella Case, Sam’s Club E. coli, Dole Spinach E. coli Case, KFC E. coli Case and ConAgra Beef E. coli.  We have also done just a few E. coli cases:

* AFG / Supervalu E. coli Outbreak - Minnesota
* Bauer Meat E. coli Litigation - Georgia
* BJ’s Wholesale Club E. coli Litigation - New York and New Jersey
* Cargill E. coli Outbreak - Nationwide
* Carneco / Sam’s Club E. coli Outbreak - Wisconsin & Michigan
* China Buffet E. coli Outbreak - Minnesota
* ConAgra Ground Beef E. coli Outbreak - Nationwide
* Dole Lettuce E. coli Outbreak - Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon
* Dole Spinach E. coli Outbreak - Nationwide
* Emmpak E. coli Outbreak - Wisconsin
* Excel E. coli Outbreak - Georgia
* Finley Elementary School E. coli Outbreak - Washington
* Fresno Meat Market E. coli Outbreak - California
* Gold Coast Produce E. coli Outbreak - California
* Golden Corral E. coli Outbreak - Nebraska
* Habaneros E. coli Outbreak - Missouri
* Jack in the Box E. coli Outbreak - Western States
* Karl Ehmer Meats E. coli Outbreak – New Jersey
* KFC E. coli Outbreak - Ohio
* King Garden Restaurant E. coli Outbreak - Ohio
* Nebraska Beef E. coli Litigation - Minnesota
* Odwalla E. coli Outbreak - Nationwide
* Olive Garden E. coli Outbreak - Oregon
* Parsley E. coli Outbreak - Washington & Oregon
* Peninsula Village E. coli Outbreak - Tennessee
* PM Beef Holdings, Lunds & Byerly’s E. coli Outbreak
* Rochester Meat Company E. coli Outbreak - Wisconsin, California
* Sizzler E. coli Outbreak - Wisconsin
* Sodexho Spinach E. coli Outbreak - California
* Spokane Produce E. coli Outbreak - Washington, Oregon, Idaho
* Stop & Shop E. coli Case - New Hampshire
* Taco John’s E. coli Outbreak – Iowa and Minnesota
* Topps and Price Chopper E. coli Case - New York
* Topps Meats E. coli Outbreak - Nationwide
* United Food Group E. coli Outbreak - Western States
* Wendy’s E. coli Outbreak - Oregon
* Wendy’s E. coli Outbreak - Utah

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I said to the AP today:

The tomato epidemic is not the first the country has seen, but is the largest since an outbreak in 2004 sickened 564 people, said William Marler, a Seattle attorney who specializes in food contamination cases.

Marler has been involved in seven of the last 12 salmonella cases involving tomatoes in the last decade. However, this is the only one that has involved the salmonella Saintpaul strain, he said.

Overall, salmonella outbreaks linked to raw tomatoes are common. The CDC estimates salmonella poisoning from raw tomatoes has sickened as many as 79,000 people in 12 multi-state outbreaks since 1990.

According to the CDC, since April, 613 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 33 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The marked increase in reported ill persons since the last update is not thought to be due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed. In particular, one new state, Massachusetts reported ill persons. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (3 persons), Arizona (34), California (8), Colorado (4), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (14), Idaho (3), Illinois (45), Indiana (9), Kansas (9), Kentucky (1), Maryland (18), Massachusetts (12), Michigan (4), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (79), New York (18), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (17), Oregon (5), Pennsylvania (5), Rhode Island (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (265), Utah (2), Virginia (21), Vermont (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (5), and the District of Columbia (1). Among the 316 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 13, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 99 years; 50% are female. At least 69 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.

In 1990, a reported 174 salmonella javiana illnesses were linked to raw tomatoes as part of a four-state outbreak. In 1993, 84 reported cases of salmonella montevideo were part of a three-state outbreak. In January 1999, salmonella baildon was recovered from 86 infected persons in eight states. In July 2002, an outbreak of salmonella javiana occurred associated with attendance at the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games held in Orlando, Florida during late June of that year. Ultimately, the outbreak investigation identified 141 ill persons in 32 states who attended the games. All were linked to consumption of raw tomatoes.

During August and September 2002, a salmonella newport outbreak affected the East Coast. Ultimately, over 404 confirmed cases were identified in over 22 states. Epidemiological analysis indicated that tomatoes were the most likely vehicle, and were traced back to the same tomato packing facility in the mid-Atlantic region.

In early July 2004, as many as 564 confirmed cases of salmonellosis associated with consumption of contaminated tomatoes purchased at Sheetz Convenience Store were reported in five states: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia. Seventy percent were associated with tomatoes in food prepared at Sheetz convenience stores.

In 2006 two outbreaks of salmonella-tainted tomatoes where reported by the FDA. One was blamed for nearly 100 illnesses in 19 states. FDA also traced tomatoes involved in another outbreak involving 183 people in 21 states.  For more information on Salmonella visit www.about-salmonella.com and www.salmonellalitigation.com.

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Andrew Schneider of the Seattle P-I wrote one of the “Fair and Balanced” stories in this mornings PI - Raw milk: Should the state ban it? Or drink it up? After E. coli outbreak and guilty plea, debate rages on. I did not add much except to but in a dose of reality to the farmers and the grocery stores who sell raw milk to kids.

Seattle food safety lawyer Bill Marler is up to his neck in many of those lawsuits. He grew up drinking raw milk on the farm "because that's what my dad wanted us to do," he said. He has tried injury suits stemming from most of Washington's raw milk outbreaks and is now handling similar cases in California and Missouri.

"The entire raw milk debate is so emotionally charged that there's no common ground at all," Marler said. "The reality is if you poison a little child by selling a product that could easily be pasteurized, you're going to have to deal with the legal issues surrounding that," he said.

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UPDATE - Just got an email that said Mexico may still be in the hunt.

I can hear Lou Dobbs sobbing now, but the Cox News Service has confirmed that the salmonella-tainted tomatoes did NOT come from Mexico. They came from Florida. From the interview of Dr. David Acheson:

The epidemiological investigation has narrowed the problem to raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes. And the evidence suggests the tainted fruit came from Florida, where farmers were harvesting when the earliest known victim fell ill on April 10.

Florida "fits with the time frame," and investigators have not found evidence that could rule out the state, David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for foods, said Thursday in a conference call with reporters.

He said contrary to some earlier reports, he knows of no evidence showing tainted fruit came from Mexico.

The CDC as also recently confirmed that 552 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 32 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The marked increase in reported ill persons since the last update is not thought to be due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed. In particular, the number of ill persons reported from Texas markedly increased, and two new states, New Jersey and Rhode Island, reported ill persons. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (3 persons), Arizona (29), California (8), Colorado (4), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (11), Idaho (3), Illinois (34), Indiana (8), Kansas (9), Kentucky (1), Maryland (18), Michigan (4), Missouri (10), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (73), New York (10), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (5), Oregon (5), Pennsylvania (5), Rhode Island (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (265), Utah (2), Virginia (20), Vermont (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (5), and the District of Columbia (1). Among the 281 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 10, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 88 years; 49% are female. At least 53 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.

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As I blogged about last year - “E. coli’s comeback: What’s with that?” - In 2007 in some 21 recalls, ground beef companies have recalled more than 33 million pounds of E. coli O157:H7 contaminated meat. 2008 has also seen recalls and we are just into the E. coli season. In 2007 hundreds have been sickened, including dozens of children who have undergone kidney dialysis as a result, some have died.

Now the Ohio E. coli outbreak is growing and has reached Michigan as well. The number of cases in Ohio are up to 16 cases, 10 are linked by genetic fingerprinting and public health investigators are working with clients to examine whether a common source of infection can be found. This genetic fingerprint also matches cases in Michigan.

• Delaware County: 1 case (confirmed)
• Fairfield County: 4 cases (three confirmed; one probable)
• Franklin County: 9 cases (four confirmed; five probable)
• Lucas County: 1 case (confirmed)
• Seneca County: 1 case (confirmed)

As I said yesterday, the Michigan Department of Community Health reported 29 E. coli cases statewide so far in June, well above the average of 10 cases for the entire month the past four years. Five people have been hospitalized.

In both the Ohio and Michigan cases, laboratory reports, including DNA analysis, suggest that ground beef is a common source of the bacteria in several of the individuals who were affected. It also appears that the DNA analysis has been linked to the ground beef recall of 13,275 pounds from New Jersey Dutch Meats on June 8.

E. coli O157:H7 bacteria are believed to mostly live in the intestines of cattle but have also been found in the intestines of chickens, deer, sheep, goats, and pigs. E. coli O157:H7 does not make the animals that carry it ill; the animals are merely the reservoir for the bacteria.

While the majority of foodborne illness outbreaks associated with E. coli O157:H7 have involved ground beef, such outbreaks have also involved unpasteurized apple and orange juice, unpasteurized milk, alfalfa sprouts, and water. An outbreak can also be caused by person-to-person transmission of the bacteria in homes and in settings like daycare centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. We are involved in representing families of children who have suffered from this bacterium. See Marler Clark E. coli Litigation for more information on past outbreaks.

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I am still in Wales, but press reports from the USA seem to creep across the “pond.”  Reading the Seattle Times online this morning it seems that Dee Creek finally got “nicked” as they say here for selling the “magical” milk.  As it said, “two owners of a small Cowlitz County farm pleaded guilty Wednesday to distribution of adulterated food in a December 2005 E. coli outbreak involving raw milk that sickened 18 people in Washington and Oregon.”

They face a maximum penalty of a year in prison and a $100,000 fine when sentenced Sept. 5 for the misdemeanor.  In their plea agreements, the couple acknowledged that: "the milk was prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health."  The agreements added that the couple "did not intend that anyone be put at risk through consumption of the milk."

However, three adults and 15 children were sickened by raw milk traced to Dee Creek's dairy.  Three children were hospitalized with renal failure, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  We represented some of these families in an action that was resolved over a year ago.  We presently are in litigation with California’s largest raw milk producer, Organic Pastures.  Trial in 2009.  Organic Pastures has also been under a Grand Jury investigation.

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Now, according to the CDC, since April, 383 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 30 states and the District of Columbia: Arkansas (2 persons), Arizona (26), California (8), Colorado (2), Connecticut (2), Florida (1), Georgia (8), Idaho (3), Illinois (34), Indiana (8), Kansas (9), Kentucky (1), Maryland (10), Michigan (3), Missouri (9), New Hampshire (1), New Mexico (70), New York (9), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (5), Oregon (4), Pennsylvania (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (131), Utah (2), Virginia (17), Vermont (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (5), and the District of Columbia (1).

These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The marked increase in reported ill persons is not primarily due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased markedly mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed. Among the 243 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 5, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 88 years; 47% are female. At least 48 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.

Salmonella is one of the most common enteric (intestinal) infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common foodborne illness after Campylobacter infection. It is estimated that 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur each year in the U.S.; 95% of those cases are foodborne-related. Approximately 220 of each 1000 cases result in hospitalization and eight of every 1000 cases result in death. About 500 to 1,000 or 31% of all food-related deaths are caused by Salmonella infections each year. Salmonellosis is more common in the warmer months of the year.

According to the Chicago Tribune, federal regulators are a step closer to solving a widespread outbreak of salmonella after two Adobo Grill restaurants in Chicago were identified as the source of nine cases of the illness that has sickened at least 383 people in 30 states.

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According to Ohio Health officials, Eleven cases of illness due to E. coli bacteria have been reported in central Ohio over the past two weeks.  Five of the reports are from Columbus, two from elsewhere in Franklin County, three from the east in Fairfield County, and one from the north in Delaware County.  So far DNA testing has linked three cases in the city and surrounding county, and that those cases likely have the same source.

It appears that the nine cases of E. coli infection that have been lab-confirmed among western Washington residents have been linked to contaminated lettuce.  A tenth case may be linked but was not tested.  The illnesses arose, in part, at Pacific Lutheran University and a local Tacoma High School cafeteria.

UPDATE - Now a dozen ill.

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The CDC reports that since April, 277 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 28 states and the District of Columbia: Arkansas (2 persons), Arizona (19), California (6), Colorado (1), Connecticut (2), Florida (1), Georgia (7), Idaho (3), Illinois (34), Indiana (7), Kansas (8), Kentucky (1), Maryland (1), Michigan (2), Missouri (4), New Mexico (68), New York (2), North Carolina (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (4), Oregon (3), Tennessee (4), Texas (68), Utah (2), Virginia (16), Vermont (1), Washington (1), Wisconsin (5), and the District of Columbia (1). These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. Among the 202 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 5, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 88 years; 46% are female. At least 43 persons were hospitalized. No deaths have been officially attributed to this outbreak. However, a man in his sixties who died in Texas from cancer had an infection with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Saintpaul at the time of his death. The infection may have contributed to his death.

The news of the "killer tomatoes" is a bit bigger news here in London than George Bush's visit with the Queen and Prime Minister.  However, we did get stuck in the middle of a protest over Bush's visit as we were making our way to the Museum of Natural History.  My guess is that the reason for the small protest is because he has much the same effect on things as the Dodo does in the Museum case.

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According to the CDC, for every one person who is a stool-culture positive victim of salmonella in the United States, there a multiple of 38.5 who are also sick, but remain uncounted.  (See, AC Voetsch, “FoodNet estimate of the burden of illness caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella infections in the United States,”Clinical Infectious Diseases 2004;38 (Suppl 3):S127-34).  This means that in this salmonella Saintpaul tomato outbreak of 228 (this number is bound to rise), we are missing 8,550 people so far.  (By the way, I am still in London and visited Saint Paul’s Cathedral yesterday).

So, how does such a miscount actually happen?  Frankly, some people who became ill simply suffer in silence or were not sick enough to seek medical treatment.  Those that do seek medical attention are also not that likely to have a doctor order a stool culture for salmonella.  Without a stool culture they do not get counted in the “official” CDC numbers (to date 228).

On where in the world is tainted tomato?  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration added New Mexico, Indiana and one Mexican state to its list of places that are cleared of being the source of the salmonella outbreak.  The FDA has now cleared 37 states, Puerto Rico and parts of Florida as the source of the outbreak.

Thus far we have been contacted by over 50 people in the US who either are stool-culture positive salmonella Saintpaul or who believe that they became ill after eating tomatoes in April or May.  Several have identified the same restaurant chain. Because we have not see the health department documentation of the illnesses, we will not divulge that name of the chain - yet.  Interestingly, on June 13, the FDA said that nine people fell ill at two restaurants that were part of the same chain.  The agency also declined to name the chain or its locations. Hmm, wonder if I beat the FDA to the punch?

Anyway, I still hope someone answers my questions:

1. Why does it take CDC so long to figure out an outbreak is going on?*

2. Why does it take so long for FDA to figure out where the tainted tomatoes came from?*

3. What if this was a bio-terrorism act instead of a likely food handling error?

*  Note - I think this more has to do with resources than it does will or ability.

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Efoodalert blogger Phyllis Entis, blogged today that Kentucky has been added to the torrent of tainted-tomatoes. It is now 229 people infected with genetically matching strains of Salmonella Saintpaul have been identified in 24 states since mid-April. Other states include: Arizona (19 people), California (2), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Florida (1), Georgia (1), Idaho (3), Illinois (29), Indiana (7), Kansas (5), Kentucky (1), Michigan (2), Missouri (2), New Mexico (55), New York (1), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Tennessee (3), Texas (68), Utah (2), Virginia (9), Vermont (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3).

According to the CDC, salmonella infections are relatively common, generally resulting in diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12–72 hours after infection. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. The illness usually lasts 4-7 days. Although most people recover without treatment, severe infections may occur.

The FDA recommends consuming raw red plum, raw red Roma, or raw red round tomatoes only if grown and harvested in certain states, EXCLUDING central and south Florida and Mexico.

As I said to the LA Times:

"This happens every time," said Seattle, Washington, attorney and food safety expert William D. Marler. "We've not gotten any better at surveillance of this stuff, though we've got the technology and should be able to figure out outbreaks pretty quick, not a month-and-a-half into it. And not figuring out whether it started from Florida or Mexico - that's absurd."

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In a press briefing today, David Acheson, M.D., the FDA's associate commissioner for foods (a.k.a., “Food Czar”), said that evidence available thus far suggests that a single geographic region (e.g., Mexico or Florida) is the source of salmonella SaintPaul that has contaminated tomatoes and resulted in 228 cases of salmonellosis in 23 states. Dr. Acheson said, tha the "unique genetic fingerprint" of the salmonella strain under investigation makes it highly unlikely that the contaminant will be found in more than one locale. However, the FDA still has not traced the pathogen back to that single source, although he said the most likely regions were central and southern Florida and Mexico.

If I were Food Czar, I would ask the following questions:

1. Why did it take the CDC so long to figure out there was a tomato outbreak?
2. Why does it take so long for FDA to figure out where the tainted-tomatoes originated?
3. What if this was a bio-terrorism case instead of a likely food-handling error?

BREAKING NEWS

FDA officials say two outlets of the chain served people sickened in the outbreak. They decline to name the chain or the restaurant locations, citing confidentiality.  Nine people sickened by a salmonella outbreak linked to fresh tomatoes ate at two restaurants from the same chain, federal officials confirmed today.  The chain's name and restaurant location are confidential, said David Acheson, the associate commissioner of foods for the Food and Drug Administration, during a conference call with reporters. A spokesman for the agency also declined to provide the time frame for the cases -- or say whether the restaurants were in the same state.  However, according to the FDA, some of the sick ate tomatoes bought at supermarkets and fixed at home.  Interestingly, we have received about 50 phone calls and emails from people who believe that they have been sickened by salmonella.  Some report speaking to local and state health departments and being told that they were sickened by salmonella SaintPaul.  Several restaurants have been named.  Perhaps by the weekend we will have figured it out.

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According to the CDC, six states, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Vermont with 61 ill persons were added to the prior list of Arizona (12 persons), California (2), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Idaho (2), Illinois (27), Indiana (7), Kansas (5), Michigan (2), New Mexico (39), Oklahoma (3), Oregon (3), Texas (56), Utah (1), Virginia (2), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (3) - bringing the number of ill persons to 228 and affected states to 23.

What a mess. The FDA still hasn't pinpointed the source of the outbreak (Mexico and South Florida are still in the running) and producers have criticized the FDA and CDC for taking too long to determine the source of the outbreak, which they say is hurting sales of the $1.4 billion U.S. tomato market.

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Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infections in Children Associated with Raw Milk and Raw Colostrum From Cows --- California, 2006

CDC this morning published the following findings in MMWR:

Five of six patients reported they had consumed brand A raw dairy products in the week before their illness onset; the sixth patient denied drinking brand A raw milk, although his family routinely purchased it. Among the five patients who consumed brand A dairy products, two consumed raw whole milk, two consumed raw skim milk, and one consumed raw chocolate-flavored colostrum. Four of the five patients routinely drank raw milk from dairy A. One patient was exposed to brand A dairy product only once; he was served raw chocolate colostrum as a snack when visiting a friend. No other food item was commonly consumed by all six patients. No other illness was reported among household members who consumed brand A dairy products.

Funny, there was a great article on Organic Pastures - See AP Article:
Health officials crack down on unpasteurized milk

My favorite quote:

McAfee, who was among the first in California to sell raw milk on a large scale, brushed off the investigation: "When you're a pioneer, you have to expect to take a few arrows."

Tad bit racist I would say?  My other favorite quote:

But parents like Melissa Herzog strongly disagree.

Herzog, whose 10-year-old daughter spent two months in the hospital after her kidneys failed because of E. coli poisoning, is one of the families suing Organic Pastures over the 2006 outbreak that health officials determined was probably caused by raw milk from the dairy.

"I don't have anything good to say about raw milk," she said. "It was a horrible experience."

For the complete CDC report: Continue Reading...

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Misti Crane of the Columbus Dispatch reported this morning that six cases of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the past week have health officials concerned and looking closely to see whether the illnesses are linked.

Three cases in Fairfield County and three in Franklin County, including two in Columbus, were reported after the death on May 27 of a 52-year-old Gahanna woman who was infected with the bacteria. In Columbus, a 19-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman were sickened. The third Franklin County case involved a 23-year-old man. The Fairfield County cases involved an 11-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy and a 47-year-old woman, health officials said. The 52-year-old woman who died had the same strain as several Washington state residents whose illnesses were linked to lettuce grown in California.

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Crack Meat Guy Jeff Gold reported on “USDA papers: Burger recall followed riskier procedures.” I would urge readers to look this over – interesting story on the real lack of USDA and FSIS oversight on these plants and why we have seen an increase in E. coli O157:H7 illnesses since 2007. I’ll just leave you with a couple of highlights:

From FSIS’s perspective:

"Clearly, something was missed at Topps" when the company became "complacent," Kenneth Petersen, head of the national Office of Field Operations for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, conceded in an interview…. In a separate interview, Petersen said Topps had decreased end-of-line testing for E. coli from monthly to three times a year. "Somewhere, I don't know if lazy is the right word, but they got complacent," he said.

Here is the really interesting part:

At least three families have sued Topps, claiming relatives became ill from its hamburgers. With the company out of business, they are seeking shares of insurance payouts that could total $22 million.

"The problem with Topps is it seems they had really low, low frequency of testing their finished hamburger product," which saved money, said William D. Marler of Seattle, a lawyer for two of the families. "Their testing protocol really was designed never to find E. coli; never to slow the process down."

Marler examined the inspection documentation at the request of the AP and said many deficiencies should have been caught…. "This report clearly shows that their safety procedures and testing procedures were definitely below par and led to this outbreak and ultimately to their bankruptcy," he said. "My point is, these things are so obvious, where was the inspector in July and August 2007?"

And, FSIS’s response:

While acknowledging that inspections could have been better, the USDA's Petersen said that after the Topps recalls, "we put in place some changes to make sure that doesn't happen again."

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If ever there is a case to slap down “Big Beef” this is it.  This article is a must read to learn just how far a corporation will go to deny responsibility for sickening dozens and killing a woman by putting E. coli O157:H7 out into the stream of commerce and then blaming the victims.  Corporations simply have no souls.  Instead of suing a church, the Board of Directors needs to go to church.  In Sunday’s New York Times, Andrew Martin writes:

"Out of a Church Kitchen and Into the Courts"

The Outbreak:

Nebraska Beef has been accused of making people at a church social very sick; one elderly woman died. Meatballs served at a smorgasbord of the Salem Lutheran Church in Longville, Minn., were tainted with deadly E. coli bacteria, and Nebraska Beef was named as the culprit in lawsuits filed by the dead woman’s husband and by Ellie Wheeler, one of 17 other people who became ill.

The Victims:

Ellie Wheeler, one of those at a church social who became ill, is suing Nebraska Beef. The company is suing her church.

Carolyn Hawkinson died after eating meatballs at Salem Lutheran Church in Longville, Minn.

The Defense:

But Nebraska Beef, based in Omaha, is pursuing a very different tactic.

For starters, the company has denied that it is responsible for providing bad meat, and it has provided a culprit of its own. It blames the Salem Lutheran Church — contending in its own lawsuit that the volunteer church ladies who prepared the food were negligent.

Nebraska Beef’s lawyers are even preparing to depose the minister.

Our thoughts:

Denis W. Stearns, a Seattle lawyer who represents Mr. Hawkinson and Ms. Wheeler, said it was unusual but not unprecedented for a meat company to sue the victims. His colleague, Bill Marler, is less diplomatic, calling Nebraska Beef’s lawsuit “one of the boldest, yet boneheaded, moves I have ever seen."

Perhaps my best quote ever.

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The New Mexico Department of Health has announced that an outbreak of salmonella has been linked to uncooked tomatoes. The department announced that 31 people from seven New Mexico counties have contracted a strain of salmonella known as salmonella St. Paul.  I had blogged about this outbreak earlier - Salmonella St. Paul sickens 21 in New Mexico, 14 in Texas and they are still counting in Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

I have done a few thousand salmonella cases over the years, with several of them being tied to contaminated tomatoes.  I also posted a few months ago that on the same day it was announced that I settled the last of the salmonella suits against Sheetz, the Post-Bulletin of Rochester, Minnesota reported that Quizno's salmonella outbreak came from tomatoes.  Tomatoes and Salmonella have been around a long, long time.

In 1990, a reported 174 Salmonella javiana illnesses, as part of a four state outbreak, were linked to raw tomatoes. In 1993, 84 reported cases of Salmonella Montevideo were part of a three state outbreak that was linked to raw tomatoes.  In January 1999, Salmonella Baildon was recovered from 86 infected persons in eight states.  In July 2002, an outbreak of Salmonella javiana occurred associated with attendance at the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games held in Orlando, Florida during late June of that year.  Ultimately, the outbreak investigation identified 141 ill persons in 32 states who attended the games.

During August and September 2002, a Salmonella Newport outbreak affected the East Coast.  Ultimately, over 404 confirmed cases were identified, in over 22 states.  Epidemiological analysis indicated that tomatoes were the most likely vehicle, and were traced back to the same tomato packing facility in the mid-Atlantic region.

In early July 2004, as many as 564 confirmed cases of salmonellosis associated with consumption of contaminated tomatoes purchased at Sheetz Convenience Store were reported in five states, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia.  Seventy percent were associated with tomatoes in food prepared at Sheetz convenience stores.

In 2006 two outbreaks of Salmonella-tainted tomatoes where reported by the FDA.   One was blamed for nearly 100 illnesses in 19 states.  FDA also traced tomatoes involved in another outbreak involving 183 people in 21 states.

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After nearly two years of work, we were able to settle today the last severe E. coli O121:H19 Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) cases related to illnesses stemming in part from a teachers’ conference luncheon in June 2006.  According to the Weber-Morgan Health Department (WMHD), at least three attendees had contracted E. coli O121:H19 stool culture positive infections.  On August 2, 2006, the WMHD issued a news release indicating that those people had been infected with E. coli O121:H19, and that two of the individuals had developed HUS.  WMHD stated that the evidence indicated that all three people contracted E. coli from the same source sometime during June 27-30 at the Wendy’s restaurant in Ogden, Utah.  By August 7, WMHD officials had revised the number of outbreak victims to four, including three who had developed HUS.

WMHD further concluded that the source of the infection was contaminated iceberg lettuce prepared at the Wendy’s Restaurant and sourced from California.  One of the patients with confirmed HUS, who had not attended the teacher’s conference, ate cheeseburgers with iceberg lettuce at the Wendy’s Restaurant during the outbreak period.  The second confirmed HUS case was an attendee of the teachers’ conference, and a third case of HUS was determined to be secondary transmission from an infected person at the conference.

We represented all of the HUS and culture-confirmed cases.  Eventually, WMHD determined that at least 69 people had become ill in the outbreak.  Of those, three remained hospitalized for an extended period and were listed in serious to critical condition.  The settlement amounts are confidential.

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Had a nice chat today with Darrin Youker of the Reading Eagle about how Ms. Moyer has been forced to the middle in a fight between two corporations and their insurance companies:

A Boyertown woman has sued the parent company of Taco Bell for $5 million, claiming she was sickened by E. coli after eating contaminated food at the chain’s Gilbertsville restaurant.  Debra Moyer, who sued Yum! Brands Inc. earlier this month, was among more than 70 people across the country who claimed they were sicked by contaminated food served by Taco Bell in 2006.  William Marler, a Seattle-based attorney who litigates E. coli cases, filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.  Moyer spent more than a month in the hospital and was in a coma for a week after she became sick in November 2006, Marler said Thursday.  Moyer, 48, has suffered permanent kidney damage and will require life-long treatments, Marler said.  The suit is seeking $5 million for past and future medical expenses, he said.

"A lot of people as sick as Debbie frankly don’t survive," Marler said. "She has made pretty good strides in her recovery."

Marler, who is representing about a dozen other E. coli victims across the country, said he tried to settle the claims with Taco Bell out of court.  However, he said, the company is in a dispute with the supplier of the lettuce believed to be the source of the contamination.

"Ms. Moyer is stuck in the middle," he said. "We got nowhere and our options were limited."

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Robert Rodriguez of The Fresno Bee reported from the courtroom Friday in Hollister that the Superior Court judge ruled that the state had a rational basis for creating legislation that imposes a higher safety standard for Organic Pastures and Claravale Farms - California's two raw milk producers.  The new regulations set a limit of 10 coliform bacteria per milliliter of raw milk.  It's the same standard used for pasteurized milk.

Judge Tobias also granted the dairies a three-week suspension of the new law to allow their attorney to file an appeal.  The Judge also said.  "From the plaintiffs' standpoint, they should be dealing with their political representatives for legislative modification."

Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures dairy (who I have sued on behalf of two childen sickened in a 2006 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak), said dairy officials are working with Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, on a new legislative solution that sets a higher bacteria count along with a new food safety plan guiding dairy operation.  I have been following Mark McAfee, who I understand calls me "Marler Shark" - a play on the firm name, Marler Clark.

The following nine posts you might find interesting - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9.

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A week without a blog post?  That has not happened for a long time.  Being "off the grid" in Alaska for a few days did not help (me in the Obama hat with a very fresh steelhead), and spending the balance of the time in airports and airplanes getting to and from Omaha and Minneapolis absorbed the balance of the time.  I did however squeeze in a few more lawsuits:

Victim of Taco Bell E. coli Outbreak Sues Yum Brands

An E. coli lawsuit was filed today against Yum Brands—the parent company of Taco Bell—in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Debra Moyer, a resident of Boyertown, PA, who became gravely ill with an E. coli infection after eating contaminated food from a Taco Bell in Gilbertsville.  

Ms. Moyer is a victim of an outbreak of the highly toxic E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in four Northeastern states in November, 2006, associated with contaminated lettuce served at various Taco Bell restaurants. More than 70 people who ate at Taco Bell restaurants in Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were infected, and eight developed the life-threatening complication Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), including Ms. Moyer. Ms. Moyer was hospitalized for 31 days, her kidneys failed, she experienced seizures and was in a coma for weeks, and she has sustained permanent renal injury.  Ms. Moyer’s case, however, has not yet been resolved, despite the far greater relative severity of her illness and of her substantially greater loss. Taco Bell has yet to make an offer that would be adequate to pay for Ms. Moyer’s hospital bills and to compensate her for her past and present injuries. “Ms. Moyer barely survived her acute illness, and her life has been permanently and negatively affected,” said food borne illness attorney William Marler. “She is disabled, and both her body and her finances have been ravaged by this illness. It is imperative that corporations take responsibility when their products wreak this kind of personal destruction.”

Second Lawsuit Filed In Chipotle Grill Hepatitis A Outbreak

A second Hepatitis A lawsuit was filed today against Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., in San Diego County Superior Court. The complaint was filed on behalf of San Diego resident Rhonda Salgado, who was infected with Hepatitis A after eating food from the Chipotle Grill in La Mesa, California, between February and April 2008.  The lawsuit states Ms. Saldago developed symptoms of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection on April 10, 2008 and required medical attention on multiple occasions including April 19, April 24, and May 1, 2008. In the course of these visits, her blood tested positive for Hepatitis A. Ms. Salgado remains ill, and has not been able to return to work.  In late April 2008, San Diego County health officials announced that a number of HAV infections had been traced to the restaurant, located at 8005 Fletcher Parkway in La Mesa. Officials advised customers who had eaten at the restaurant between March 1 and April 22 that they might be at risk for infection.

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Mick Trevey of WTMJ reported on documents discovered at the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Milwaukee, also called Emmpak Foods, which processes more than 100 million pounds of beef every year.

Bill Marler is a lawyer who specializes in food borne illnesses. "It's a dirty, dirty business," Marler said.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service in various  "non-compliance reports" found problems in one part of Cargill's big operation in Milwaukee.

• In April of 2006, inspectors found a "scale well is filled with previous weeks of trash and debris." Inspectors also noted: "swinging doors are damaged (cracks), and covered with brown thick grease and other grime."

• The documents also show in December of 2006, inspectors saw "pooled amounts of standing water, blood, and debris" on the covers over combos of meat. One of those covers "was ripped" "exposing the product inside."

• In August of 2007, inspectors noticed a "heavy odor." They checked out the main scale and found drains under the main scale were filled with "standing water, debris, and meat trash."

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We have been contacted by nearly one dozen people who believe that the have contracted hepatitis A. 

We have filed one suit so far, but may file others as the facts warrant it.  Another hepatitis A case with a possible link to a Chipotle restaurant in La Mesa has been confirmed, bringing the number to twenty-two, the San Diego County Health and Human Services announced Friday. Health officials are still working to determine the source of the outbreak. Twenty-six employees at the Chipotle on Fletcher Parkway have been tested, and all have been negative for hepatitis A, according to the HHSA.

Assuming that those twenty-six are all the employees at the restaurant, it appears more likely that the hepatitis A came directly from a food item, like green onions or lettuce. See below links to prior produce-related hepatitis A outbreaks:

Green Onion

Strawberries

Lettuce

And for prior legal cases, see Marler Clark.

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Tonight at 10:00: hundreds of millions of pounds of beef have been recalled over the last several years. Is the meat we eat, safe? Several recalls were for meat processed in Milwaukee. TODAY’S TMJ4 sent requests for federal inspection reports. The reports we got show problems at one part of Cargill's big operation in Milwaukee. We showed those inspections to people who closely watch the food industry, and they had plenty to say about food safety. Tonight, live at 10:00, you'll see exactly what the federal documents show, and you'll hear from a woman who got E. coli from tainted meat processed in Wisconsin.

“A lot of the problems that you see with respect to cleanliness, with respect to potential contamination problems, were things that were not just something that happened on a particular day, but as you can tell from the documents, some of the problems were long standing,” Attorney Bill Marler said.

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Another hepatitis A case with a possible link to a Chipotle restaurant in La Mesa has been confirmed, bringing the number to 21, the San Diego County Health and Human Services announced Tuesday.  We filed suit today on behalf of 1 of the 21 today.

 Hepatitis A is commonly spread through fecal contamination due to poor hygiene.  Exposure can also occur when someone consumes food or water contaminated with the hepatitis A virus.  Symptoms of the disease include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal discomfort, dark urine and jaundice.  We are or have been involved in representing families and children who have suffered from this virus:

Carl’s Jr. Hepatitis A Outbreak - Washington
Chi-Chi’s Hepatitis A Outbreak - Pennsylvania
Chipotle Grill Hepatitis A - San Diego
D’Angelo’s Deli Hepatitis A Outbreak - Massachusetts
Friendly’s Hepatitis A Exposure - Massachusetts
Houlihan’s Hepatitis A Exposure - Illinois
Maple Lawn Dairy Hepatitis A Outbreak - New York
McDonald’s Hepatitis A Outbreak - Washington
Quizno’s Hepatitis A Exposure - Massachusetts
Soleil Produce Hepatitis A Outbreak - California
Subway Hepatitis A Outbreak - Washington
Taco Bell Hepatitis A Outbreak - Florida

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After months of attempting to resolve these cases without litigation, after five days of mediation with no resolution, we filed suit against Wendy’s (perhaps now Arby’s) in Salt Lake City Federal Court on behalf of two victims who suffered severe hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).  We did settle with Wendy’s insurance companies several other claims of stool-culture positive victims.

As you might recall, in early August 2006, public health officials in Weber County, Utah, became aware of several people who attended a teachers’ conference luncheon that had contracted E. coli O121:H19.  On August 2, 2006, the Weber-Morgan Health Department (WMHD) issued a News Release indicating that three people had contracted E. coli O121:H19, and that two of the individuals had developed HUS.  WMHD stated that the evidence indicated that all three people contracted E. coli from the same source sometime during June 27-30 at a restaurant in the Ogden, Utah area.  By August 7, WMHD officials had revised the number of outbreak victims to four, including three who had developed HUS.  A final report was issued.  Three of the HUS patients with E. coli O121:H19 were laboratory confirmed by stool culture. DNA subtyping by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) showed that one of the individuals that was not associated with the conference, but who had consumed cheeseburgers from Wendy’s during the outbreak period, was an identical genetic match to one of the previous confirmed E. coli cases associated with Wendy’s.  See also "Women sue Wendy's for E. coli poisoning in 2006."

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A lawsuit was filed today against Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., in San Diego County Superior Court for the recent hepatitis A outbreak linked to a La Mesa Chipotle restaurant.  Terry Wesley, the plaintiff, became infected with hepatitis A after eating in March and April at the Chipotle Grill on Fletcher Parkway in La Mesa, California.  Mr. Wesley is represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of food borne illness, and Keeney, Waite, & Stevens, a San Diego area firm.  The lawsuit states Mr. Wesley developed symptoms of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection on April 24, 2008 and required medical attention on April 25 and May 2, when his blood tested positive for hepatitis A. He remains ill and has not been able to return to work.

In late April 2008, San Diego County health officials announced that a number of HAV infections had been traced to the restaurant, located at 8005 Fletcher Parkway in La Mesa. Officials advised customers who had eaten at the restaurant between March 1 and April 22 that they might be at risk for infection.  As of May 1, twenty people who ate at the La Mesa restaurant have tested positive for HAV infection.  Four of those victims have contacted Marler Clark for assistance with their cases. 

Hepatitis A is a food borne virus that can be passed by infected food handlers to consumers.  The virus attacks the liver, and symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, dark urine, fever, chills, fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite, and later on, jaundice. In extreme cases, liver failure can result.  The virus has a long incubation period, and symptoms may not appear for fifteen to fifty days.  San Diego health officials continue to urge anyone who ate at the Chipotle Grill during the infection window (5/1/08-4/22/08) to get tested for Hepatitis A.

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San Diego California

County health officials reported today another person who contracted hepatitis A from possibly eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in La Mesa. The new case brings the number of people linked to the exposure at the restaurant to 20, eight women and 12 men, according to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.

Princeton New Jersey

Authorities have now confirmed 10 cases of salmonella at Princeton University. Health officials are investigating 73 other cases of stomach problems at the Ivy League school that may be related to the bacteria. The university has also closed food stations within some dining facilities that relied heavily on certain produce and meat products.

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San Diego County health officials reported today another person who contracted hepatitis A from eating at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in La Mesa.  The new case brings to 19, eight women and 11 men, the total number of patients sickened by the outbreak, according to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.  Officials continue to advise people who dined at the restaurant, 8005 Fletcher Parkway, between March 1 and April 22 to see a doctor if they experience symptoms of the viral infection.

We have been contacted by 4 of the confirmed Hepatitis A cases and continue to investigate the source of the infection - ill, non-symptomatic employee or food contamination.

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You might recall a post I made several months back about Nebraska Beef suing the Salem Lutheran Church of Longville, Minnesota claiming, among other things:

• That, upon information and belief, an environmental assessment of the church kitchen and food preparation procedures by the Minnesota Department of Health indicated that there was a high potential of cross-contamination between the ground beef [filled with pathogenic cow shit] and other foods during food preparation.

• That, upon information and belief, the damages sustained by the Plaintiff[s], if any, [one died of E. coli-related complications, and one suffered acute kidney failure] are the direct and proximate result of the negligence and/or other fault for tortuous conduct of Third-Party Defendant Salem Lutheran Church.

Now, I just got notice that Nebraska Beef intends to put the pastor under oath – good gawd!

As you also might recall, in late July and early August 2006, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) received three E. coli O157:H7 stool isolates from residents of, and visitors to, Longville, Minnesota. Pulsed-field gel electrophoreses (PFGE) patterns for all three were indistinguishable, and the pattern had never been seen before in Minnesota. At the same time, MDH learned of an outbreak of gastrointestinal illnesses among members of the Salem Lutheran Church in Longville.

MDA and MDH learned that ground beef used to make meatballs for the church meal, as well as the ground beef purchased by numerous area restaurants, was purchased at Tabaka’s Supervalu. On July 17, members of the church had purchased 40 pounds of ground beef from the Supervalu. MDA conducted an on-site inspection at the store on August 7, 2006. MDH’s epidemiological investigation revealed seventeen illnesses that met the case definition. Of these, three people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one patient died.

The MDA traceback of the chuck rolls from Interstate Meat revealed that the “most plausible” source of the chuck rolls delivered to the Supervalu was the Nebraska Beef processing plant. In addition to this, the USDA reported that a sample of beef trimmings collected on June 14, 2006 at a processing plant cultured positive for E. coli O157:H7, and that the isolate was indistinguishable by PFGE analysis to the outbreak strain. The processing plant was determined to be Nebraska Beef, the company that most likely supplied the implicated chuck rolls to Tabaka’s Supervalu.

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I read with some amusement that Arby’s bought Wendy’s today for $2.34 billion. According to various press reports, Dave Thomas' daughter Pam Thomas Farber said the family was devastated by the news. "It's a very sad day for Wendy's, and our family. We just didn't think this would be the outcome," said Farber. If her father were alive to hear news of the buyout, "he would not be amused," she said.

No one from Wendy's called and asked how "devastated" the victims of its past E. coli outbreaks are.  Frankly, they are not that "amused."  The last time I was involved in an E. coli case with Wendy’s was 2000 – just before Dave died. Now I am involved in another one – just before Wendy’s died. Here are the bare facts on the two outbreaks:

2006 - Utah

In early August 2006, public health officials in Weber County, Utah, became aware of several people who attended a teachers’ conference luncheon that had contracted E. coli O121:H19. On August 2, 2006, the Weber-Morgan Health Department (WMHD) issued a News Release indicating that three people had contracted E. coli O121:H19, and that two of the individuals had developed HUS. WMHD stated that the evidence indicated that all three people contracted E. coli from the same source sometime during June 27-30 at a restaurant in the Ogden, Utah area. By August 7, WMHD officials had revised the number of outbreak victims to four, including three who had developed HUS.

WMHD further concluded that the source of the contamination was possibly iceberg lettuce prepared at the Wendy’s Restaurant at 2500 North 400 East in North Ogden, Utah. One of the patients with confirmed HUS who had not attended the teacher’s conference had eaten cheeseburgers with iceberg lettuce at the Wendy’s Restaurant during the outbreak period. The second confirmed HUS case was an attendee of the teachers’ conference, and a third case of HUS was determined to be secondary transmission from an infected person at the conference. Eventually, WMHD determined that at least 69 people had become ill in the outbreak. Of the sixty-nine people who reportedly became ill, four remained hospitalized and were in serious condition.

2000 - Oregon

On August 22, 2000, Marion County Health investigators contacted the Oregon Health Department to report that a number of County residents were suffering from E. coli O157:H7. Three days later Wendy's International, Inc voluntarily closed its Salem restaurant.

The health department investigation revealed that cross contamination from contaminated ground beef was the outbreak source. The role of cross-contamination as the source of other major E. coli outbreaks has been well documented. Independent events of cross-contamination from beef within the restaurant kitchens, where meats and multiple salad bar items were prepared, were the most likely cause of four separate chain-restaurant associated outbreaks in Washington and Oregon in August, 1993. See Lisa A. Jackson, M.D., et al., "Where's the Beef?" Archives of Internal Medicine, Volume 160, August 14/28 2000, 2380-2385.

Marion County Inspectors found several food-handling problems that likely resulted in cross-contamination, causing E. coli bacteria in the meat to contaminate other foods. These included:

1. Food-preparation staff soaked lettuce in the first compartment of a three-compartment sink that was used to rinse bloody-meat-juice-covered pans in which raw hamburger patties had been held, without cleaning and sanitizing the sink between uses.

2. Food-preparation staff used a cleaning and sanitizing "wet towel, dry towel" process, whereby a shelf above the grill that held raw hamburger patties was wiped clean first with a dry towel, then with a sanitized-soaked wet towel. The dry, bloody-meat-juice-soaked towel was used for hand wiping in both the grill area and the sandwich assembly area (where raw products are placed on cooked burgers)

3. Poor hand washing was observed.

So, with an extra $2,340,000,000 sitting around you would think that Wendy's could come up with the money to take care of two customers who are at risk of kidney failure after eating Wendy’s products? Perhaps, they will now offer Arby’s coupons?

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I was paging through the pages of the Ethicurean when I stumbled over this post:

Amanda kicks over the raw-milk bucket

Whoa! Our Ethicurean team member Amanda Rose (and Organic Gardening milk feature writer) neglected to tell us she would be dropping a bombshell on the California raw-milk community. On her other blog, she confirms rumors that one possible reason that state investigators’ tests never could link Organic Pastures Dairy conclusively to the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak of 2006 was because it wasn’t OP’s milk…even if it was under its label. Organic Pastures’ Mark McAfee has admitted he was “outsourcing” — selling colostrum from the notorious Vander Eyk dairy, which had its organic certification pulled because it did not give its cows access to pasture. Sums up Amanda, at the end of an obsessively detailed factual argument that ends with the roar of an outraged mama bear: “This story is a food processor integrity story. If I buy a product from a processor and that processor tells me that the product comes from a cow on grass, I expect that the product comes from a cow on grass … I want to thank Mark for bottling a product self-described as laden with ‘filth, feces, contaminants, and pathogens.’ Thank you for marketing that same product to my young son as a health food.”

For a slightly different perspective on Ms. Roses' post see the Complete Patient.

It is very unlikely that that source of the E. coli-contamination in 2006 was milk sourced from another supplier, but even if it was, Organic Pastures, as the manufacturer of the milk and milk product that all of the children consumed, would still be on the hook for the injuries to those children.  It was not spinach as Organic Pastures has tried to spin it.  Also, Organic Pastures has spun the State's payment to it of money to compensate for the 2006 recall as an admission that the outbreak did not occur - not so - see attached.

As I read the Ethicurean post and Ms. Roses’ too, I was struck by the thought:  “where there is smoke, there is fire.”  Organic Pastures has been linked to an E. coli Outbreak, Campylobacter Outbreak, Listeria Recall (each are links to reports) and is subject of an ongoing criminal investigation.  Now, it also appears that Organic Pastures may have been serving up raw milk to its consumers that was out-sourced.  Perhaps Organic Pastures has just become another corporate giant (certainly in the milk field) concerned with one thing - making a buck.  (See video of OP owner talking about sales as the driving force) I'm just glad I am not Organic Pastures' lawyer - I would have a very big headache.  See also, "Top litigator fires a shot across the bow of raw milk industry."

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According to the CDC's most recent count, as of April 14 the outbreak had sickened 23 patients in 14 states, including two cases each were reported in New Hampshire and Massachusetts with California, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Vermont each reported one case.  Maine, New Jersey and New York each reported three cases.  Illness onset dates were known for nine patients and ranged from January 22 to March 2.  Patients' ages range from 1 to 95 years (really, 95?) and 62% are female.  Three hospitalizations have been reported, but no deaths.  The CDC said the PulseNet system notified its outbreak team on Apr 7 about a cluster of human Salmonella Agona isolates from several states that had the same genetic fingerprint.

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Illinois has joined Maine and Minnesota in naming themselves as locations of ill persons linked to Salmonella Agona tainted Unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereal. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Saturday that diagnoses of salmonellosis linked with the consumption of Malt-O-Meal cereals have been reported in 14 states. Three people have been treated in hospital.

Three states down, eight to go. What continues to go unreported is what the same plant that produced the same PFGE (genetic fingerprint) Salmonella Agona in 1998 has been doing since 1998? Also, have there been Salmonella Agona illnesses linked to cereal consumption over the last ten years?

Craig Hedberg, PhD, a foodborne disease expert and associate professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, told CIDRAP News that there may an environmental source of S Agona at the plant, despite the steps that Malt-O-Meal reportedly took in response to the previous outbreak in 1998.

"My guess is that the bug may have been in the plant the whole time, but that to have enough contamination to cause an outbreak also required an amplifying event," he said.

Hedberg said that if this is, in fact, the same strain that caused the previous outbreak, it would be interesting to review PulseNet data see if health officials have missed other cases involving the outbreak strain over the past 10 years.

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I am still here in DC about to head to this morning’s sessions on FSIS’s attempt to deal with E. coli in our meat supply.  As I said to the group yesterday, I impressed that the FSIS, CDC and the industry are addressing many of the food safety challenges we are facing today.  The agenda is ambitious; to explore the challenges of addressing E. coli O157:H7, including illness and recall trends; to discuss FSIS’s plans to begin a short-term study to determine the extent to which non-O157 STECs may be present in FSIS-regulated products; and, to discuss the evidence that may support a determination that raw beef products such as primal cuts and boxed beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 are adulterated.  This is ambitious, but important.

Although busy, I still had the time to do a hat-trick (A hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts) of sorts in the media yesterday. I spoke to Andrew Schneider of the Seattle-PI:

Seattle lawyer and food safety expert William Marler was asked to testify before the panel and he agreed that the downturn in illnesses and recalls from 1994 to 2004 was too good to be true.

As I told Nancy Luna of the OC Register:

In 2006, Seattle food safety attorney Bill Marler advised produce packers and growers to look at the beef sector for tips on reducing food borne illness outbreaks.

At the time, a series of E. coli outbreaks had rocked the industry – sickening more than 200 people who ate tainted spinach or lettuce. In the meantime, the beef industry, plagued in the 1990s by similar food scares, had made great strides in reducing food poisoning cases.

Now, the pendulum has swung.

Since 2007, federal health officials have documented 67 beef recalls, up from eight in 2006. At least 20 recalls are linked to E. coli tainted meat.

"It's not a pretty picture," Marler said of the recent spate of beef recalls. "I wonder if they took their eye off the ball."

The Seattle Times ran a few words yesterday as well:

Seattle attorney Bill Marler is suing Organic Pastures, the nation's largest organic raw milk dairy, on behalf of two children who fell ill after consuming its products. Testing at the dairy farm near Fresno, Calif., did not detect the strain of E. coli that sickened the children, but a government report said the dairy was likely responsible. Marler, who has sued other dairies as well, criticized states for bowing to pressure from farmers and allowing raw milk sales to go on - legally or not.

"My worry is that as it becomes more acceptable and becomes more commercialized, you know, it will reach a critical mass where all of the sudden you're going to get a whole bunch of little kids poisoned," Marler said. "And then everybody will throw up their arms and go, 'Whoa, we've got to stop this, we've got to pasteurize.'"

And, as Mark the Defendant said:

"They have never found a pathogen in our raw milk since we opened in 2000," dairy owner Mark McAfee said. But properly produced raw milk does contain bacteria that "help rebuild immune systems," he added.

Too bad that he fails to mention the Listeria, Campylobacter and E. coli problems Organic Pastures has had.

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As of Friday, the total number of Salmonella cases had reached 372, with 99 stool cultures confirmed and 14 hospitalized. 

Within the first week of the salmonella outbreak, as of March 18, 18-20 cases were confirmed through lab testing and another 56 met the clinical definition, but were not lab confirmed.  Four people were hospitalized. By March 20 the lab-confirmed cases had risen to 47 with an additional 76 meeting the clinical definition.  The hospitalizations had risen to 5. By the weekend there were 130 known cases of salmonella with 7 hospitalized. By March 24 there were 217 reported cases, with 68 lab confirmed cases.  By the middle of that week the number of cases had risen to 276, 73 lab confirmed and 10 hospitalized.  As of March 28 there were 293 total cases, 78 confirmed and 12 hospitalized. As of March 30 the total had risen to 316, 85 confirmed and 12 hospitalized.  On April 2 the number had risen to 343, 91 confirmed and 13 hospitalized.  From April 2 to April 4 the number rose to 372 with 99 confirmed and 14 hospitalized.  Of the April 4 total, ages of the victims were: 14 under 5 months old; 24 from 6-11 months of age; 25 1-year-olds; 63 in the 2-4-year-old range; 66 from 5-12 years old; 43 in the 13-18 age range; 132 over 18 years old; and 5 unknown.  To date we have been contacted by over 35 ill people, most stool culture confirmed.  The below Epi curve is courtesy of www.slvdweller.com:

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According to the City of Alamosa’s press release Friday afternoon, Alamosa’s first case of salmonella occurred on March 7.  As of noon Friday, there had been 293 total cases reported, 78 confirmed cases and 12 hospitalized.  The first bottled water alert was March 19.

A Stage 1 Red Alert remains in effect throughout the city this afternoon as officials anticipate a geographically-phased transition to a Stage 2 notification tomorrow and into Sunday. On Tuesday, high concentrations of chlorine began to be introduced into the water system to help eliminate the bacterial contamination that had been identified previously. Water samples are being taken from a cross-section of sites across the city including the hospital, medical clinics, schools, business areas and neighborhoods. Depending on the site, the samples will be tested for salmonella or other bacteria, plus arsenic, copper, lead and other metals. The samplings will reveal when it is safe to progress to the yellow Stage 2 Alert.

The roughly 8,500 residents of the southern Colorado town won't be able to drink the water until the chemical is washed out.  That could take three weeks.  Alamosa's water is drawn from a deep well and had been the largest of about 100 water systems in the Colorado that did not require chlorination.  City plans called for a new water plant, already being built, to include chlorination even before the salmonella outbreak.

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Trevor Suslow is a cooperative extension specialist in the Department of Vegetable Crops at UC Davis. His research and extension program centers on studying the effects of microflora on the postharvest quality of perishable produce. He was perfect to write on what consumers should do with Salmonella and Cantaloupe. Download his ideas here.

According to the CDC, between January 18 and March 5, 2008, state health departments identified 50 ill persons in 16 states infected with Salmonella Litchfield with the same genetic fingerprint. Ill persons with the outbreak strain have been reported from Arizona (1 person), California (10), Colorado (1), Georgia (2), Illinois (1), Missouri (1), New Jersey (2), New Mexico (1), New York (5), Ohio (1), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (5), Tennessee (1), Utah (5), Washington (9), and Wisconsin (3). In addition, 9 ill persons with the outbreak strain have been reported in Canada.

We have been contacted by several people who believe  they contracted Salmonella by eating this fruit.  We shall see. 

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Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News reports that the “Big flush begins today in Alamosa.”  Although the flushing seems dramatic, there still seems to be no understanding of the source of the Salmonella in the first place.

Although she reports that “chlorinated water will rush through 50 miles of pipes beginning today to try to cleanse salmonella from the municipal water system,” there still seems to be questions as to whether this will actually solve the problem. As she reported: “Officials don't know how or where salmonella entered the water system, which is an unusual deep-well system. It has not required disinfection until now.”  There were reports that there was no concern about employees or terrorism as the cause.

Ms. Imse also reported on the filing of the first of what will likely be many claims against the city:

Meanwhile, a Seattle attorney has filed a claim against the city of Alamosa on behalf of a child . . . who he says suffered severe gastrointestinal illness and was hospitalized for five days because of the salmonella outbreak. Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who specializes in food poisoning cases, said today that when a Colorado city is sued, damages are capped at $150,000 for any injured person or a maximum of $600,000 for all injured parties.

Ann Imse's story in the Rocky Mountain News, "Water contamination hits home," says it all about how important safe water is for people – especially children:

For Jenn and Ray Cook, this city's salmonella crisis began March 9 with a terrifying sound. Their 7-month-old son woke up screaming at 3 a.m. with bloody diarrhea and a fever of 103 - just weeks after his second heart surgery. San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center quickly decided the fluffy-haired baby needed special care. "They Flight-for-Lifed him to Children's Hospital in Denver," said his mother, Jenn, 28. Jordan, who is missing the left ventricle of his heart and faces one more operation, was given intravenous fluids and oxygen. Children's doctors then spent five days trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Finally, tests hit on the answer: Salmonella poisoning. He was one of the first cases. Baby Jordan is recovered now, to his parents' relief. On Wednesday, he was smiling broadly and sporting pale blue socks to match his shirt.

About Salmonella Typhimurium - In 2005 a total of 36,184 Salmonella isolates were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national rate of reported Salmonella isolates in 2005 was 12.2 per 100,000 based on 2005 census population estimates. Salmonella serotype Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) has been the most commonly isolated serotype since 1997. In 2005 there were 6,982 human cases of S. Typhimurium reported to the CDC. S. Typhimurium is also the most common serotype detected in clinical samples obtained from bovine sources, and from non-clinical samples from chicken sources. A large proportion of S. Typhimurium isolates are resistant to antimicrobial drugs. In a 2003 national survey, 45% were resistant to one or more drugs and 26% had a five-drug resistance pattern characteristic of a single phage type, DT104.  (REF: DHHS, CDC, 2005 Salmonella Annual Summary).

Surveillance for waterborne-disease outbreaks--United States, 1993-1994.

The outbreak in Missouri that was caused by Salmonella serotype Typhimurium resulted in illness in an estimated total of 625 persons, including 15 persons who were hospitalized and seven who died. The most likely source for the outbreak was the larger of two storage towers, which was inadequately protected from wild-bird droppings. S. Typhimurium was isolated from the sediment of one of the towers, and tap water was positive for fecal coliforms.

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FDA Warns of Salmonella Risk with Cantaloupes from Agropecuaria Montelibano

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an import alert regarding entry of cantaloupe from Agropecuaria Montelibano, a Honduran grower and packer, because, based on current information, fruit from this company appears to be associated with a Salmonella Litchfield outbreak in the United States and Canada. The import alert advises FDA field offices that all cantaloupes shipped to the United States by this company are to be detained.

In addition, the FDA has contacted importers about this action and is advising U.S. grocers, food service operators, and produce processors to remove from their stock any cantaloupes from this company. The FDA also advises consumers who have recently bought cantaloupes to check with the place of purchase to determine if the fruit came from this specific grower and packer. If so, consumers should throw away the cantaloupes.

Cantaloupe and Salmonella – sound familiar?  We have been involved in several, here are two:

Kunick Cantaloupe Salmonella Outbreak

On May 13, 2002 the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a press release reporting an outbreak of Salmonella Poona connected with Susie Brand cantaloupes distributed in the United States and Canada by the I. Kunik Company of McAllen, Texas. The outbreak of Salmonella Poona infected dozens of people throughout the United States and Canada. The FDA reported that the cantaloupe was sold in retail stores, restaurants, and possibly used in other institutions. The recall of Susie Brand cantaloupes was the result of an FDA traceback investigation that linked salmonella infection to the consumption of this brand of cantaloupe. The FDA detained all cantaloupe imported by I. Kunik from Mexico.

Shipley Sales Cantaloupe Salmonella Outbreak

In May 2001, the FDA issued a press release warning consumers about Viva Brand imported cantaloupe. The FDA advised consumers of an outbreak of Salmonella Poona linked to cantaloupe imported to the U.S. by Shipley Sales Service of Nogales, Arizona. The outbreak was implicated in numerous illnesses and two deaths in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington state. The FDA detained all cantaloupe imported by Shipley Sales Service and took steps to prevent the importation of any additional contaminated cantaloupe.

Some other Cantaloupe Salmonella links:

Multistate Outbreaks of Salmonella Serotype Poona Infections Associated with Eating Cantaloupe from Mexico --- United States and Canada, 2000--2002

Three multistate outbreaks of Salmonella serotype Poona infections associated with eating cantaloupe imported from Mexico occurred in the spring of consecutive years during 2000--2002. In each outbreak, the isolates had indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns; the PFGE patterns observed in the 2000 and 2002 outbreaks were indistinguishable, but the pattern from 2001 was unique among them. Outbreaks were identified first by the California Department of Health Services (2000 and 2001) and the Washington State Department of Health (2002) and involved residents of 12 states and Canada.

Castle Produce Announces the Recall of Cantaloupe Melons Due to Salmonella Contamination

Castle Produce, a subsidiary of Tropical Produce, Inc., a wholesale importer of fresh fruit and vegetables announced the recall of cantaloupes in California due to potential health concerns. Some cantaloupes delivered on or after 2/16/2007 have tested positive for Salmonella, although no illnesses have been reported.

Dole Fresh Fruit Company announced the recall of cantaloupes in the Eastern U.S. and Quebec due to potential health concerns.

Some cantaloupes packed on January 25, 26 and 27, 2007 by an independent, third-party grower in Costa Rica have tested positive for Salmonella. Although no illnesses have been reported, Dole voluntarily has decided to recall all cantaloupes imported from Costa Rica and packed by that grower.

According to news reports, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called the FDA decision “extreme and imprudent,” as the melons were contaminated on their peel, not inside, meaning they may have come in contact with salmonella bacteria after they were shipped.

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Inside the cover of Steven Johnson’s “The Ghost Map” reads:

It is the summer of 1854. Cholera has seized London with unprecedented intensity. A metropolis of more than 2 million people, London is just emerging as a one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure necessary to support its dense population - garbage removal, clean water, sewers - the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure.

Sounds a bit like the spring of 2008 in Alamosa, Colorado.  According to news reports:

Boiling tap water will kill bacteria to make it safe for use, but health officials warned that no one should use even boiled tap water once the flush of the water system begins. Investigators are working to determine how the system was contaminated. Possibilities include a compromise in a storage tank or cross-contamination with a sewage line. The city had been working to switch to a chlorinated system, but the salmonella outbreak is speeding up the city's timetable. The outbreak has affected business for many restaurants, who were told to toss any produce washed or misted with city water if it was going to be served raw, and to stop serving ice or soda fountain drinks made with city water. They also could not wash dishes with city water.

As recently at March 2008, the Chieftan reported that a new water treatment plant designed to bring Alamosa in line with federal arsenic standards for drinking water should be ready by Aug. 1, said Public Works Director Don Koskelin. The plant became necessary when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revised its drinking water standards for arsenic to 10 parts per billion in 2004, down from the old rule of 50 ppb.

"We'll get the EPA off our backs, won't we," Mayor Farris Bervig said.

Even earlier and perhaps odder, in 2005, water was an issue. Then it was the start up of Alamosa-based Colorado Water company. It wanted to be “a part of whiskey history.” Lewis and Clark believe Colorado's San Luis Valley is just the place to produce a whiskey "slightly above the Jack Daniels/Jim Beam level," as Clark puts it. Why Alamosa? Clark, 50, who previously worked in the microbrewery business, sized up the San Luis Valley's water and abundance of barley, and deemed it ideal for a distillery. He also knew there was no Colorado or Western brand of whiskey. He partnered with Lewis, a native of Scotland and an expert in the field of single-malt Scotch whiskey (spelled "whisky" only if produced in Scotland).

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A Los Angeles firm is voluntarily recalling these products because the alfalfa sprout seeds used to produce them were found to be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been associated with Kowalke Family Sprout Inc. Alfalfa sprouts. Kowalke Family Sprouts Inc. of Los Angeles products are distributed to retail stores, including stores in the Farmer’s Markets food chain, Whole Foods and Gelson’s Supermarkets. The recall includes:

- All alfalfa, onion/alfalfa mix, cauliflower/alfalfa mix and dinner salad mix
- Products in 4-ounce, 1-pound & 5-pound packages
- Product “sell-by dates” March 4 through March 26

All alfalfa, onion/alfalfa mix, cauliflower/alfalfa mix and dinner salad mix products are affected by the recall. Alfalfa products are in 4-ounce, 8-ounce, 1-pound and 5-pound packages. The dinner salad is in an 8-ounce package. The cauliflower/alfalfa combo and onion/alfalfa mix are in 4-ounce packages. The products in question have sell-by dates from March 4 through March 26. The codes are located on the front label of the packages.

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As of today, 183 cases had been reported in Alamosa.  A city spokeswoman says of those, 57 were confirmed by lab testing, and nine people were hospitalized.

The Alamosa News continues to cover the rising toll of what appears to be Salmonella-tainted tap water – “More salmonella cases reported.”  According to the paper:

Salmonella has not been definitively linked to the Alamosa municipal water supply but the City of Alamosa is taking precautions because one site in the city’s water system tested positive for coliform bacteria and city officials decided not to take any chances with public health. The contaminated sample is undergoing further tests.
Alamosa County Emergency Operations Center Public Information Officer Connie Ricci said that by late Thursday the number of lab-confirmed cases of salmonella rose to 47 in addition to 76 cases that met the clinical definition for salmonella but had not been confirmed through laboratory tests.

Interesting fact – Let us assume that the Salmonella is coming from the Alamosa City water.  And, let us assume that the parents of the sick and hospitalized children seek compensation.  What result?  Interestingly, under Colorado Law (C.R.S. 24-10-106) the city would not be immune from liability (not able to sue them), but any damages awarded would be capped at $150,000 per person and a total of $600,000 per incident.  So, the more sick people, the less the city has to pay per person. Interesting incentive to NOT poison your citizens.

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OK, that is the Olympia Beer slogan from the State of Washington.  But, clearly, Alamosa has "a lot more" in its water than its residents bargained for.

Today, Colorado State Health officials announced an outbreak of Salmonella contaminated drinking water and put residents of Alamosa under a bottled water advisory.  Officials said people should immediately stop using tap water from the city's water system for drinking and cooking.  A spokeswoman for the city said residents were safe to boil their water before using it.  Otherwise they should use bottled water.  To date, 33 cases of salmonella have been confirmed and linked to the outbreak, and another 46 reported cases of salmonella are being investigated by health officials.  State consumer protection officials provided the following guidance during the bottled water order:

- At home, use bottled water for cooking, drinking, brushing teeth, making ice, washing dishes and for adding to any food especially for the preparation of baby formula.

- Home-style/domestic dishwashing machines are adequate for sanitizing if the heat drying cycle is applied.

- Bathing and showering in the water should present no problems for healthy individuals. Exercise caution not to ingest water during such activities.

- No commercial food preparation should be done unless approved by the local public health agency.

- Consider using prepared food from an alternative approved source.

- Use only prepackaged foods that do not require any additional preparation other than heating in its original container.

- Frequently wash hands and apply hand sanitizer after washing.

- Do not touch food with bare hands. Use disposable gloves.

- Use frozen/canned produce.

- Purchase packaged potable ice.

- Do not use water to wash plates, cups and utensils. Use only single-service utensils, such as paper plates, napkins, cups, plastic spoons, forks and knives.

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Hew Hallock reports this morning that – “Search goes on for source of Salmonella.”  So far the source of the outbreak - most likely a common source given the number of ill people - has not been announced. 

“As of Tuesday, March 18, 2008 we still have 18 confirmed cases and now have 56 cases that meet the clinical definition for salmonella infection,” said Julie Geiser, director of the Alamosa County Nursing Service. “Four persons have been hospitalized in conjunction with the outbreak. We have not yet determined a source for the bacteria.” Geiser said the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is assisting local health workers interview those families who have been infected. The interview uses an extensive seven-page questionnaire that is used to find a commonality among those who have been infected.

Rumors have been circulating about where the salmonella came from, said Geiser, but she warned, despite those rumors, that no location has been identified or confirmed as the place where the contamination began. “Clearly these are rumors and we haven’t made a determination,” she said.

Salmonella is one of the most common enteric (intestinal) infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common form of bacterial foodborne illness after Campylobacter infection. It is estimated that 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur each year in the U.S.; 95% of those cases are foodborne-related. Approximately 220 of each 1000 cases result in hospitalization and eight of every 1000 cases result in death. About 500 to 1,000 or 31% of all food-related deaths are caused by Salmonella infections each year. Salmonellosis is more common in the warmer months of the year.

Salmonella infection occurs when the bacteria are ingested, typically from food derived from infected food-animals, but it can also occur by ingesting the feces of an infected animal or person. Food sources include raw or undercooked eggs/egg products, raw milk or raw milk products, contaminated water, meat and meat products, and poultry. Raw fruits and vegetables contaminated during slicing have been implicated in several foodborne outbreaks.

Reiter’s syndrome is a form of reactive arthritis. It is uncommon but can be a debilitating syndrome that follows a gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection. The most common gastrointestinal bacteria involved are Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia, and Shigella. Reiter’s syndrome is characterized by a triad of arthritis, conjunctivitis, and urethritis, although not all three symptoms occur in all affected individuals (Hill Gaston & Lillicrap, 2003). The reactive arthritis associated with Reiter’s syndrome may develop after a person eats food that has been tainted with bacteria. Although the initial infection may not be recognized, reactive arthritis can still occur. Reactive arthritis typically involves inflammation of one joint (monoarthritis) or four or fewer joints (oligoarthritis), preferentially affecting those of the lower extremities. The pattern of joint involvement is usually asymmetric. Inflammation is common at an enthesis (a places where ligaments and tendons attach to bone), especially the knee and the ankle.

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The Associated Press reported last night that, “Wisconsin family sues Minnesota meat company over E. coli.”  That meat company is Rochester Meat Co. of Rochester, Minnesota that in January issued a recall of nearly 200,000 pounds of beef over concerns it may have been contaminated with E. coli.  Our clients, Karen and James Evans of Fitchburg became sick and so did their children from eating hamburgers at a Fitchburg Tony Roma's in December.  Karen Evans had to be hospitalized for nearly 10 days.  We reported the link Rochester Meat and Tony Roma’s link in January when we were retained by a California family to represent their daughter who ate contaminated food at a California located Tony Roma's.

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Health officials have reported that five have been sickened and one died of apparent symptoms of foodborne shiga toxin. It is likely E. coli O157:H7 - a shiga toxin producing E. coli.

Shiga toxin is one of the most potent toxins known to man, so much so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists it as a potential bioterrorist agent (CDC, n.d.). It seems likely that DNA from Shiga toxin-producing Shigella bacteria was transferred by a bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) to otherwise harmless E. coli bacteria, thereby providing them with the genetic material to produce Shiga toxin.

Although E. coli O157:H7 is responsible for the majority of human illnesses attributed to E. coli, there are additional Stx-producing E. coli (e.g., E. coli O121:H19) that can also cause hemorrhagic colitis and post-diarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (D+HUS). HUS is a syndrome that is defined by the trilogy of hemolytic anemia (destruction of red blood cells), thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), and acute kidney failure.

It is likely that the death is caused by post-diarrheal Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (D+HUS).  HUS is a severe, life-threatening complication that occurs in about 10% of those infected with E. coli O157:H7 or other Shiga toxin (Stx) producing E. coli. D+HUS was first described in 1955, but was not known to be secondary to E. coli infections until 1982. It is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children. Adolescents and adults are also susceptible, as are the elderly who often succumb to the disease.

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After spending a few days at the Argibusiness Executive Conference, I am off to Salt Lake City to a Court ordered mediation of cases stemming from the E. coli O121:H19 outbreak linked to an Ogden Wendy's.  I represent five of the victims.  Two cases were settled yesterday, so we will be mediating three - all HUS cases.  Details of the outbreak below:

In early August 2006, public health officials in Weber County, Utah, became aware of several people who attended a teachers’ conference luncheon that had contracted E. coli O121:H19. On August 2, 2006, the Weber-Morgan Health Department (WMHD) issued a News Release indicating that three people had contracted E. coli O121:H19, and that two of the individuals had developed HUS. WMHD stated that the evidence indicated that all three people contracted E. coli from the same source sometime during June 27-30 at a restaurant in the Ogden, Utah area. By August 7, WMHD officials had revised the number of outbreak victims to four, including three who had developed HUS.

WMHD further concluded that the source of the contamination was possibly iceberg lettuce prepared at the Wendy’s Restaurant at 2500 North 400 East in North Ogden, Utah. One of the patients with confirmed HUS who had not attended the teacher’s conference had eaten cheeseburgers with iceberg lettuce at the Wendy’s Restaurant during the outbreak period. The second confirmed HUS case was an attendee of the teachers’ conference, and a third case of HUS was determined to be secondary transmission from an infected person at the conference. Eventually, WMHD determined that at least 69 people had become ill in the outbreak. Of the sixty-nine people who reportedly became ill, four remained hospitalized and were in serious condition.

Three of the HUS patients with E. coli O121:H19 were laboratory confirmed by stool culture. DNA subtyping by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) showed that one of the individuals that was not associated with the conference, but who had consumed cheeseburgers from Wendy’s during the outbreak period, was an identical genetic match to one of the previous confirmed E. coli cases associated with Wendy’s.

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The first paragraph of the North County Times article says it all:

“A Murrieta couple says it was raw milk tainted with a strain of E. coli that nearly killed their son. The owner of Organic Pastures Dairy in Fresno, where the raw milk came from, and the Sprouts store in Temecula, where the milk was purchased, each say there is no proof they are at fault.

Each side sees the facts of the case differently - It will now likely be up to a jury to decide.

According to Sprouts - The Martins bought the raw milk Chris drank in September 2006, from Sprouts on Winchester Road in Temecula. When contacted recently, Sprouts store owner Linda Watson said, "There is no information I know of that any E. coli in any raw milk was sold at our store, or anywhere else for that matter."

According to Organic Pastures - Mark McAfee, owner of Organic Pastures Dairy in Fresno (see video and other video) says there is no proof that his company is at fault, as also alleged in the lawsuit. "When a person sues for a food-related illness, they must be able to show a connection between a product and the person," McAfee said. "There isn't a connection here." McAfee said the pathogen was not found in any of the manure tests of his cows or in any tests of packaged dairy products from his business. "Because there isn't any connection, we feel confident we have a very strong defense," he said.  See California State Report.

According to the Martins - The Seattle-based attorney representing the Martins in their lawsuit has a different opinion. "Under California law, the whole distribution chain is strictly liable," William Marler said of both the dairy and the store. "We don't have to prove the store did anything wrong or was negligent, just that it was in the product. "Selling unpasteurized milk is a risk stores shouldn't be willing to take," he said, adding that children and elderly are at "extreme risk" from pathogens that might be in such a product. "The message here is, whether it is raw or pasteurized milk, you have to be willing to take the responsibility of making sure your product is safe for your consumers," Marler said. Marler says he has handled thousands of E. coli cases over the last 15 years, including the infamous Jack in the Box meat case. He said jury settlements are typically in the millions of dollars in E. coli lawsuits, citing one Jack in the Box settlement in which $15.6 million was awarded in the case of just one child.

We also represent another child - Herzog.

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Carrie Peyton Dahlberg of the Sacramento Bee and I spoke yesterday about the fallout of the nations largest meat recall. As she has said “from soup to jerky, the list of products made with recalled beef has been growing, and messages to consumers have gotten ever more confusing. Makers of kitchen standbys like Hunt's spaghetti sauce and Hot Pockets have asked grocery stores to yank selected items from their shelves – but aren't telling anyone at home to clean out their pantries. As regulators and businesses cope with the nation's biggest beef recall, the trade offs of cost and risk seem to be getting murkier instead of clearer.”  It is interesting to see a "retailer recall" - products in stores, but not a "consumer recall" - product that you might have at home to eat.  Hmmm, how much sense is this making?

As I told her:

"You can't run away from the video of horrifically treated animals," said food safety attorney William Marler. "That, combined with a lot of the product going to school districts – the political pressure was too much."  Marler, a Seattle lawyer with a national reputation representing people sickened by bad food, fears "a lot of resources are being wasted on this recall" that could be better spent combating more serious dangers.

In an interesting twist, Victoria Kim of the Los Angeles Times wrote: “Chino beef inspectors put on leave.”  At least two federal inspectors who worked at the now-shuttered Chino plant at the center of the largest-ever beef recall have been put on paid leave, union officials said today.

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The Associated Press story caught my eye – “Several sick with E-Coli after "Beast Feast" at Mobile church.”

Several people, including a 7-year-old boy, have been hospitalized when they became sick with E. coli after eating food at a cookout known as the "Beast Feast" at a Fairhope church. As many as 20 others reported becoming ill after the cookout and potluck meal that was attended by 300 people on February 16. Eight stool cultures have tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

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Well, I landed in Washington DC at about 2:00 AM this morning after testifying in Sacramento on Monday.  The hearing this morning in front of House Energy and Commerce went well.  I think if you poke around on the committee's website you can find the video of the hearing.  Here is some news coverage of my tour:

• "Are we better off than we were 100 years ago" - Bill Marler poses that question about food safety, testifying before Committee on Energy and Commerce

• "It is time to adequately fund our health and safety authorities to help businesses protect their consumers," testified attorney William Marler.

• Attorney William Marler says, "The most important thing is to work with industry, work with consumers, to build safety nets."

• William Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents victims of foodborne illnesses, however, suggested USDA might have actually gone too far with the Hallmark recall.  "Although stunned by the video … am more stunned that the recall has ballooned to 143 million pounds of meat and is quickly encompassing products that might contain trace amounts of the meat. No people have been sickened. I wonder if resources are better spent elsewhere," he testified before the committee.

• "We have so many other pressing issues in food safety," said Seattle attorney William Marler, one of the country's leading plaintiff's lawyers on E. coli cases. The government's money and effort should be targeted at preventing terrorist attacks on the nation's food supply, he said.

• "The risk of human illness is low," said attorney William Marler who represented some of the 700 people who got sick or died in the infamous Jack-in-the-Box E. Coli outbreak in 1993.  "No people have been sickened, and I wonder if resources might be better spent elsewhere," he said.  Marler did say the federal inspection program is inadequate.

• Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents food poisoning victims, told a House committee Tuesday that the recall appeared to be overkill given that no one had gotten sick and that it encompassed products that could contain only trace amounts of the meat.??"I think we could spend those resources wisely in other areas," he said, referring to the cost of the recall.

• William Marler, a trial lawyer who represents victims of food-borne illnesses, described current inspections as "scattered and infrequent" and warned the food system is even vulnerable to terrorists.

Frankly, I am beat, so I simply lifted from the Seattle PI Blog what they lifted from my testimony today:

Salmonella, E. Coli and now 144 million pounds of unfit-to-eat beef, spark anger on Capitol Hill

The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, trying to find an answer to the growing reports of tainted and deadly food, found themselves dealing with a full plate of potentially lethal problems today.

E. coli in bagged spinach sickened 204 people and killed three.

Salmonella found in tomatoes sickened 183 people.

Lettuce contaminated with E. coli at Taco Bell and Taco John restaurants sickened 152 people.

Peter Pan peanut butter contaminated with Salmonella sickened 425 people.

100 brands of tainted pet food were recalled after sickening and killing thousands of pets.

A nationwide recall of fresh spinach occurred following discovery of salmonella in a test batch.

Frozen pot pies carrying salmonella were recalled after illnesses were reported in 31 States.

And, of course, the nearly 144 million pounds of beef were recalled by Westland/Hallmark Meat Packing Company after being determined to be unfit for human consumption.

Lawmakers heard testimony from representative of the nation's largest food producers and a Seattle lawyer who has handled hundreds of victims of a broken food safety system.

"It is clear our regulatory system is broken. I urge industry to provide serious recommendations and, more importantly, strongly support legislation that will ensure food safety. The time has passed for half measures or asking regulators to do more with less. Our health is at stake," said Rep. John Dingell, the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Seattle lawyer William Marler gave the lawmaker an up close and personal view of many victims of food poisoning that he had encountered.

Marler, who has been involved in food safety litigation since the '70s, offered the committee specific recommendation on how the nation's food safety system should be improved.

Create a local, state and national public health system that catches outbreaks before they balloon into a personal and business catastrophe, he said. He explained that everyone believed that the Jack in the Box outbreak that killed four and sickened scores of others started in Seattle in January 1993. But he said it actually began three months earlier "when another child died and another 30 people were sickened in Southern California. He said E. coli was not a reportable illness at the time, "the death and illnesses were not recognized as an outbreak and the contaminated meat was shipped to Seattle."

He said that food must be inspected and sampled before it is consumed. He reminded the committee members that the GAO has warned in the past that our food sampling and inspection is so scattered and infrequent that there is little chance of detecting microscopic E. coli or any other pathogen for that matter.

Consumers, he said, need to know what is being recalled. Voluntary recalls don't work.

Marler warned that turf wars and split responsibilities are gutting the effectiveness of the nation's food safety system and the three federal agencies responsible - CDC, FDA and USDA – should have the food safety mandates merged and properly staffed and funded.

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I was the first speaker today at Senator Dean Florez's hearing into the lapses that led to the largest beef recall our nation has ever experienced. My written testimony is here.  Reports this week indicate that more than 50 million of the 143 million pounds of beef recalled were distributed to schools across the nation through a federal nutrition program, and 20 million of those were consumed by students.

The Senate Select Committee on Food-borne Illness will focus its inquiry on how California’s food safety system allowed “downer” cattle deemed “unfit for human” consumption into the food chain. Officials from the California Department of Public Health (DPH) and the California Department of Food & Agriculture will be asked to report what additional steps they are taking to prevent potentially contaminated meat from entering our food supply in the future.

The Committee will explore the roles of federal and state officials in these tasks, and what the state is doing to fill the obvious gaps in the federal system. The magnitude of the recent recall, dating all the way back to 2006, indicates that the federal inspection system has been deficient for some time.

The state’s failure to catch the misconduct over a two year period is another crucial shortcoming which must be addressed. To that end, Florez has proposed the installation of cameras in plants like Westland/Hallmark to document that cattle intended for human consumption are healthy enough to walk unaided to the slaughterhouse. Westland/Hallmark, which installed such cameras only after its plant was shut down, has declined to send a representative to Monday’s hearing.

Officials with DPH will also be asked to answer questions regarding the implementation of SB 611, which requires notification of health officials in the event of a recall.

Florez, an outspoken advocate of improved food safety precautions, has also called on the Governor to reimburse cash-strapped school districts their expenses from the recall, to be recouped from Westland/Hallmark through the efforts of California’s Attorney General.

“Schools shouldn't have to go through a complicated process of getting reimbursed, and I hope this bill will help cut through some of the bureaucracy,” Florez said. “We are facing tough cuts as it is. Student’s educational opportunities shouldn’t be further stifled because of this company’s actions.”

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The Wall Street Journal reported this morning on something that probably does not come as a surprise to those who watched the video and have seen the largest recall in US History -  Hallmark/Westland will be closing its doors.

250 workers have been laid off. On top of the horrible video and the massive recall, now the USDA said Thursday that it intends to require that Hallmark/Westland, a leading supplier to the National School Lunch Program, pay for the costs associated with destroying and replacing meat submitted to the program. In the quote that says it all:

"If the USDA wants payment back, we're dead meat. We're done," said Mr. Magidow, 46 years old, who has worked at the company for more than 15 years. "There's no way we could pay it all back."

Following last years bankruptcy of Topps after a 21.7 million pound recall, and Hudson Foods closing its doors after recalling 25 million pounds of hamburger in 1997 in the largest U.S. meat recall after E. coli was found in the ground beef, it should not be a surprise that recalling 143 million pounds of meat would have some negative impact.

The downer cow problem is not new.  A 2006 audit (PDF) by the USDA's inspector general found downer cows were still being processed for food and that USDA's policy was inconsistent. At two of 12 plants visited from June 2004 to April 2005, downer cattle were slaughtered for food. One facility processed 27 of them, the other slaughtered two.

But, was this massive recall really necessary? Rumor has it that this massive meat recall will be expanded to food items – tomato sauce, burritos, pizzas – what else? To date, there are no ill people. Is this really necessary – especially the potential for an expanded one.  As I said in USA Today - Impact of beef recall widens; soups, sauces affected:

The breadth of affected products took even department critics by surprise. "It's almost overkill," says William Marler, a leading plaintiff's attorney in E. coli cases. Given the low risk, destroying so much food "is just an enormous waste of resources," he says.

"Recalls should be reserved for products that put the public at risk, and this isn't it," Marler says.

See the below email I was inadvertently forwarded:

From: Petersen, Kenneth
Sent: Thu Feb 21 17:36:43 2008
Subject: FW: Hallmark Recall follow up
This information was also shared with DMs.
***********************
Just confirming some notes I made on our earlier discussion re: Hallmark Recall. We are effecting the recall in accordance with Directive 8080.1.

1. As Alameda District indicated on the call, by now, the primary consignees of Hallmark have been notified of the recalled products that they received. Alameda will be verifying with Hallmark that such notification has actually occurred. District Offices should be promptly deploying appropriate personnel to verify that these firms have notified their consignees, controlled available product on premise, and collect any subsequent distribution information. Promptly notify Alameda DRO of subsequent distribution locations
2. Firms with large distribution should focus their initial notification on products produced since, approximately, July 1, 2007.
3. Firms with receipt of Hallmark product or distribution that pre-dates July 1, 2007, may request a reasonable time to gather that information. Reasonable would be up to 7 calendar days.
4. Firms, at any level of distribution, are not expected to notify consignees if the distributed products from that firm have a documented use by date that has expired. Products with recently expired use by dates, such as those within the last 30 days, will necessitate supporting documentation to substantiate the lack of consignee notification. For products without a use by date, supporting decision-making documentation, such as customer use practices, or consignee throughput, may also be used to support industry notification decisions. Inspection personnel will verify acceptable decision-making associated with consignee notification.
5. In accordance with 8080.1, down stream consignees are to follow the notification from the supplying firm.
6. Firms that believe their final product formulation contains an "infinitesimal" quantity of the product associated with the recall may submit a justification to the district manager to support that decision. Small measurable quantities (e.g., 0.5%) would not be considered "infinitesimal".

All for a Class Two Recall.  Hmmm, what's really going on here?

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A report by food safety investigators have linked a Kern County farm with an E. coli outbreak in 2006 that sickened dozens of people in the Midwest.  Officials from the California Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration reported that tainted lettuce served at Taco John's restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota came from Wegis Ranch in Buttonwillow.  More than 80 people became sick with E. coli infections after eating the lettuce.  Investigators said they found positive samples of E. coli at Wegis Ranch and at two neighboring dairies.  See more from the Bakersfield Californian.

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Still going after the small fish?

The Associated Press reported this evening that a second fired worker has been arrested in a case involving alleged abuses at a Chino slaughterhouse that led to the nation's largest beef recall. Luis Sanchez surrendered to Chino police Wednesday and pleaded not guilty Thursday to three misdemeanors involving the illegal movement of sick or injured cattle. Prosecutors say he remains in custody in lieu of $15,000 bail and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing next week.  An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Sanchez and his Westland/Hallmark Meat Company co-worker Daniel Ugarte Navarro. Navarro was taken into custody previously and released on bail. He faces five felony counts of animal abuse in addition to three misdemeanors.

I say what these two workers did (caught on tape) was horrible. But come on, who believes that they abused these animals on their own? What gain do they personally have? What they did was wrong, but who told them to do it?

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As a human (yes, lawyers are), I was appalled by the treatment of the “downer” cows caught on film. The outpouring of emotional comments on my blog over the last week should make government and the beef industry to take a hard look at what they are doing to ensure both a safe and humane beef supply.

Although there are no reported illnesses from E. coli or Salmonella, and the risk of developing "Mad Cow" is thirty years away (and an extremely low risk at that), what has happened is a mess - a very large one.  Learning today according to the AP, that “more than a third of the 143 million pounds of California beef recalled last week went to school lunch programs, with at least… 20 million pounds… eaten, 15 million pounds… on hold at storage facilities and 15 million pounds… still being traced,” should be concerning to everyone. Perhaps this is a good time to look at a little bit of history of problems with school lunches.

Congress created the NSLP over 50 years ago, as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well being of the Nation's children. It was a direct response to the fact that many of the young men responding to the draft call in WWII were rejected due to conditions arising from serious nutritional deficiencies. The 1946 National School Lunch Act was enacted to provide the opportunity for children across the United States to receive at least one healthy meal every school day. It is presently an $8 billion program.

The NSLP provides per meal cash reimbursements as entitlements to schools to provide nutritious meals to children. The NSLP provides school children with one-third or more of their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for key nutrients. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) research indicates that children who participate in school lunch have superior nutritional intakes compared to those who do not.

The NSLP provided meals to 26.1 million children in 1998. More than 15 million low-income children receive free or reduced-price school lunches daily. Over 93,000 schools currently participate in the NSLP. About 95 percent of all elementary and secondary school students are enrolled in participating schools.

The USDA spends over $200 million annually buying over 200 million pounds of meat through its commodities program to supply, in part, the NSLP and to support food prices when the market has gone soft. An arm of USDA, Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS), has the responsibility of inspecting plants that supply meat to the NSLP and the public at large.

In most States, the meat is distributed by the USDA to the Superintendent of Public Education (SPI) through the Child Nutrition Program (CNP), at no cost to school districts throughout the state.

Overview of Media Attention to Illnesses Related to School Lunches through 2004 Continue Reading...

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In a conference call with industry this morning, FSIS announced that it has changed its position in regard to further processed products that contain any amount of recalled Westland beef.  Whereas the Agency had stated on Tuesday that manufacturers of products in which Westland beef was commingled with other beef would not have to notify their consignees to return or destroy product, the Agency has now reconsidered and reversed that position.  The new determination is that all further processed products containing any amount of Westland beef will need to be recalled and destroyed.  A written statement on this position was promised by later today.

Other interesting points from the conference call:

* The Agency plans to follow its past practices for recalls that originate with a slaughter firm; the primary mechanism for verifying the recall is through recall effectiveness checks, with Agency personnel contacting each of 72 initial consignees and then each subsequent consignee to assure that at each level notification has been made to consignees of the need to return or destroy product. The Agency anticipates that 6-8 weeks could be required to complete its effectiveness checks for this recall.

* In line with past practice, the Agency does not intend to list on its website the further processed products that are being recalled.

* The Agency will expect each consignee to concentrate its recall efforts on product made from Westland beef that was received in the past 6 months and then to focus on other products that are still within their use-by dates. Records should be kept of determinations that products would no longer be expected to be on market shelves.

* A question was raised about whether some product listed in the Westland recall notice on February 17 was not actually slaughtered at the implicated establishment and therefore perhaps should not have been included in the recall. The Agency is checking into that possibility.

* Companies that received beef directly from Westland in the past two years should have already received a recall notification letter from the firm. The Agency advised that firms who suspect that they received product that will need to be recalled, but have not yet received such a letter, should put the product on hold.

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Had a nice chat with Jessica Fargen of the Boston Herald as I was traveling to New Orleans – Here is the interview entitled “Do Your Homework”

Here are some common sense tips to keep in mind the next time you go food shopping. They come courtesy of Wendy Heiger-Bernays, chairwoman of the Lexington Board of Health and professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.

• Check expiration dates on foods, particularly meat and dairy products.
• Wash raw chicken in cold water before cooking it. (NOT A GOOD IDEA)
• Always scrub fruits and vegetables.

Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who writes a blog about food poisoning and food-borne illness, said where food quality is concerned, you can judge a store by its looks.

“The cleaner the operation, the less likely bacteria contamination or viral contamination can occur,” he said. “The cleanliness of a store itself is a good indicator of how a grocery store feels about food safety.”

Marler also urges energetic shoppers to go to their local health department and check out their favorite store’s latest inspection report, the same way they keep tabs on their favorite restaurants.
“You need to be somewhat discerning about where you are going to eat dinner and where you buy your produce,” he said.

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A lawsuit was filed today against Castleberry’s Food Co., the company that recalled tens of millions of pounds of canned meat products sold under over 80 different labels after they were identified as the source of a botulism outbreak in July, 2007. The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of Carl Ours, a New London, Ohio resident who became ill with botulism poisoning after consuming Castleberry’s Chili Sauce in late June of 2007. Mr. Ours is represented by Marler Clark of Seattle and Murray & Murray of Sandusky, Ohio.

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleges that he consumed Castleberry’s Chili Sauce on or about June 28, 2007, and began suffering from symptoms of botulism, including muscle weakness, inability of swallow, and choking while eating, on June 30. Mr. Ours’ symptoms worsened and within days he suffered weakness in his arms and legs that progressed until he had difficulty walking. He sought emergency treatment several times before being taken by “life-flight” helicopter to the Cleveland Clinic, where he was diagnosed with botulism poisoning. Mr. Ours was hospitalized from July 7 to August 3, and was then transferred to a nursing home to continue his recovery. He returned home on August 24, but continues to suffer physical injury as a result of his botulism illness.

“Castleberry’s sold a product that was unsafe for human consumption and now owes a duty to its injured customers to compensate them for their injuries,” said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. “It’s only right for Castleberry’s to offer restitution for Mr. Ours’ physical, emotional, and financial losses. His medical expenses and lost wages alone total over $100,000.”

Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness that is caused by a nerve toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. The illness can cause paralysis, respiratory failure, and death.

Marler added, “Without proper medical care, Mr. Ours and others who were part of the outbreak might not still be with us today.”

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OK, I could not help myself. Hell, no one knows where the 143 million pounds of recalled meat really is. As I posted below, I am an Obama and Clinton supporter – “Obanton?” I did get an email from one of my chief defense lawyer opponents (also an Obama supporter) noting that Obama has made a statement on the recent recall.  Well, it is 6:00 AM Seattle time and I am at the airport on my way to New Orleans to sit in on the GMA Food Claims Litigation Conference - should be interesting.  So, back to Obama's statement:

Senator Barack Obama released a statement on the Department of Agriculture‚s decision to recall 143 million pounds of frozen beef that came from “downed” animals. The consumption of downed cattle can pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease. Senator Obama released the following statement:

"Senator Barack Obama released a statement on the Department of Agriculture‚s decision to recall 143 million pounds of frozen beef that came from “downed” animals. The consumption of downed cattle can pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease.

"Senator Obama said: “Although the Department of Agriculture has now recalled the tainted beef, an estimated 37 million pounds has gone to school lunch programs, and unfortunately, officials believe that most of the meat has already been consumed by schoolchildren. This incident demonstrates yet again the inadequacy of the food recall process. Far too often, tainted food is not recalled until too late.

"When I am President, it will not be business as usual when it comes to food safety. I will provide additional resources to hire more federal food inspectors. I will also call on the Department of Agriculture to examine whether federal food safety laws need to be strengthened, in particular to provide greater protections against tainted food being used in the National School Lunch Program.

"As the parent of two young daughters, there are few issues more important to me than ensuring the safety of the food that our children consume. I commend the Humane Society of the United States for bringing this important issue to the public attention and believe that the mistreatment of downed cows is unacceptable and poses a serious threat to public health.”

As the Fanatic Cook points out in a comment I received – “Senator Clinton is a cosponsor of the 2007 Safe Food Act. Senators Obama and McCain are not. (That's not saying they wouldn't be if they were briefed on it.) I'm not making an endorsement here! I'm only saying that I've been following Senate and House versions of the 2007 Safe Food Act, a bill that would among many things increase number of inspectors, increase frequency for inspections, provide funding for same, and consolidate food safety responsibilities among organizations (FDA, USDA, etc.), and Clinton, along with Schumer (NY), Casey (PA), and Durbin (IL), are the sponsors of the bill in the Senate."

So, Obama, time to put some “meat on the bone.” And, I am still available for “Food Safety Czar.”

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Like most Democrats who could be happy (I donated to both) with either Obama (my wife is a delegate) or Clinton, I must admit after reading this Clinton Press Release last night, I would like to hear from the Obama camp.

Hillary Clinton Unveils Food Safety Plan

By: Hillary Clinton for President

Following the largest beef recall in our nation's history, Hillary Clinton highlighted a series of food safety proposals she would pursue as President. This recall is not an isolated case - it is yet another troubling reminder that our food supply is at risk. Each year, tens of millions of Americans contract food-borne illnesses every year; hundreds of thousands are hospitalized; and thousands die. And the risks are only growing. Last year alone, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversaw 21 recalls related to E. coli in meat, compared with just eight in 2006. One of those recalls involved more than 20 million pounds of ground beef that caused nearly 100 illnesses in the United States and Canada. In addition, yesterday's recall by Hallmark/Westland is the second-largest supplier to the U.S. School Lunch program and a substantial supplier to other federal food and nutrition initiatives.

Hillary believes that American families should not have to worry about the safety of food on their dinner tables or in their children's school lunches. That is why she has proposed common-sense - and long-overdue - food safety reforms, building on her work in the Senate. As President, she will:

Immediately conduct a thorough audit of our nation's food safety systems to locate weaknesses and gaps. The current recall raises a number of questions, including how USDA failed to detect violations at the Hallmark/Westland plant and what steps USDA will take to ensure that all of the meat is removed from grocery stores and school cafeterias. Hillary will seek a report with recommendations on immediate and long-term reforms.

Increase USDA food safety funding by more than 50% so that our inspectors have the resources and staffing they need to do their jobs. USDA conceded that the cattle involved in this recall "did not receive complete and proper inspection." This year, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service will have a budget of $930 million. Much of that money goes to fund 7,800 inspectors responsible for inspecting 6,200 slaughterhouses and food processors across the nation. Hillary will move over time to increase that budget to $1.5 billion and to bolster the inspection force.

Move toward a single Food Safety Administration responsible for all food products, with strong authorities to protect consumers. Hillary will work to centralize our nation's food safety efforts in one agency, so that multiple bodies are not policing imports and setting separate standards. Right now, 15 agencies administer more than 30 laws related to food safety. The result is overlap, gaps, and waste. At times, our system is downright bizarre. For example, a ham and cheese sandwich on one slice of bread is the responsibility of the USDA. But a ham and cheese sandwich on two slices of bread is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hillary believes that the current regulatory system is broken and that we can only meet the challenges we face through a single agency that uses a uniform system of tracing and inspection to ensure the highest standards of safety and quality from food's origin to it consumption.

Give our safety agencies mandatory recall authority and direct them to create a national tracing system so we can determine the origin of tainted food. Hillary will authorize the FDA and USDA to mandate recalls of tainted products. Right now, the FDA and USDA lack mandatory recall authority. And the Government Accountability Office has found that current food recall systems have additional severe flaws: (1) FDA and USDA are often unaware of how promptly and completely companies carry out recalls; (2) FDA and USDA do not promptly confirm that recalls have made it all the way down the distribution chain; and (3) public notification procedures are often ineffective. Hillary will direct the new food safety agency to address these shortcomings. She will also direct the new food safety agency to establish an integrated national traceback system to help regulators trace food products and ingredients from their point of sale back to their origin. At present, there are gaps in our ability to determine the source of unsafe food and animal feed, which hinders efforts to control outbreaks and curb them before they spread. We must ensure that we have adequate tracking and monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure the health of our livestock, our farmers and our consumers nationwide.

Find, prosecute, and punish food production facilities that abuse animals and allow unsafe food to enter our food supply. Hillary will strengthen safety rules and increase civil and criminal penalties for violations of federal food safety regulations. She will direct federal prosecutors to aggressively crack down on offending companies. And she will also make it illegal for companies to violate recall requirements, and impose severe civil and criminal penalties for violations.

Ban the slaughter of downed animals. Part of ensuring that we have a safe food supply is making sure sick and injured animals are humanely euthanized, not slaughtered and put into the food supply. Twelve of the 15 cases of mad cow disease in North America were linked to downed animals. Downed animals are also three times more likely to carry E. coli, and according to one analysis presented at the American Meat Institute conference, 14% of downed cows carried salmonella. After the mad cow disease scare in 2003, the USDA put in place a temporary ban of the slaughter of downer animals, but a 2006 investigation by the USDA Inspector General revealed that the ban has not been well enforced and that more than two dozen downed animals were allowed into the food supply over a nine-month period. Americans need to have confidence in our meat suppliers, and the current temporary ban must be made permanent. As President, Hillary will impose and strictly enforce a permanent ban on the inhumane practice of slaughtering downed animals and putting them in the food supply.

I think she has been reading my blog perhaps?  Also, I still might be available for "Food Safety Czar" - if anyone asks.

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The problems at Westland and Hallmark began with abusing cattle, moved into a ban of its product from the market, then on to criminal violations.  We now need to get this front and center before a congressional Investigation.

The Largest Recall in United States History occurred Sunday.

Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company of Chino, California establishment is recalling approximately 143,383,823 pounds of raw and frozen beef products that FSIS has determined to be unfit for human food because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection. According to an FSIS press release, through evidence obtained by FSIS, the establishment did not consistently contact the FSIS public health veterinarian in situations in which cattle became non-ambulatory after passing ante-mortem inspection, which is not compliant with FSIS regulations. Such circumstances require that an FSIS public health veterinarian reassess the non-ambulatory cattle which are either condemned and prohibited from the food supply, or tagged as suspect. Suspect cattle receive a more thorough inspection after slaughter than is customary.  Full Release.

In July 2007, FSIS issued a final rule “Prohibition of the Use of Specified Risk Materials for Human Food and Requirements for the Disposition of Non-Ambulatory Disabled Cattle.” This rule requires that a case by case disposition must be made by an FSIS Public Health Veterinarian for every animal that becomes non-ambulatory disabled (“downer”) after passing ante-mortem inspection.

All products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 336” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products were produced on various dates from Feb. 1, 2006 to Feb. 2, 2008.  Companies are urged to check their inventories and hold the products until the recalling firm makes arrangements for final disposition of the products.   Full FSIS Website.

See Labels.  The following products are subject to recall:

Continue Reading...

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Linda Bock TELEGRAM & GAZETTE has been following this tragedy since the beginning, and her recent story – “CSI: Listeria - State health lab used DNA ‘fingerprints’ to find listeria source” – continues our fascination with the crime scene investigation of “the recent Listeria outbreak linked to three deaths and one miscarriage.”

However, her story misses the point a bit. Although she correctly points out that the outbreak “could have gone on indefinitely without the “detectives” at the state’s public health laboratory, who tracked down, fingerprinted, identified and photographed the dangerous strain of bacteria, and then posted the prints in a national computer database to safeguard others,” the real heroes in this and most outbreaks are the victims and their families who both are the “canaries in the coal mine” and assist in the investigation. As Ms. Brock reports:

Health officials said their first evidence of an outbreak also wound up breaking the case. That happened in November when the family of an elderly man who had fallen ill told hospital officials he may have consumed unpasteurized apple cider purchased at a farm stand in Norfolk County. Hospital staff advised the family to bring the cider to local health officials. The family brought in both the cider and a bottle of coffee-flavored milk purchased at the same stand. The local health agent sent the samples on to the state lab.

Next time, do not forget the victims.

I also was stuck by the quote of Dr. Alfred DeMaria Jr., about the safety of pasteurized milk:

It’s the first time pasteurized milk has been linked to a Listeria outbreak since ’83 in Massachusetts. What that implies is that pasteurized milk is extraordinarily safe. People should have confidence in pasteurized milk.

Oh really? Perhaps not so fast. Pasteurized milk has been the source of a number of significant outbreaks over the last twenty-five years. However, in every one of the outbreaks, the contamination occurred because of a failure in the pasteurization process (heat too low) or in contamination post-pasteurization (contamination at bottling or additives). So, raw milk folks, do not get too excited - pasteurization works, or certainly should.

OK, I have now sued three raw milk dairies in the last three years for poisoning their customers with E. coli O157:H7.  I have been attacked via email or by bloggers as being anti-small farmer or worse, a tool of “Big Dairy,” despite fifteen years of fighting against every large food company in the United Sates on behalf of victims of food poisoning.

As a father, lawyer and food-safety activist, I have come to be increasingly uneasy about this raw milk issue.  I have been giving this plenty of thought: On the one hand, yes, individuals should have the right to produce and consume raw milk.  On the other hand, suppose one of your or my daughters had been one of those recent children sickened by raw milk -  a product that is being sold as healthful – even with claims that it kills “bad” bacteria.

Because I don’t believe in the safety of our nation’s meat supply, my children do not eat hamburger at home.  Their friends’ parents and their teachers know that they don’t eat hamburger at anyone else’s homes, at birthday parties, and in the school cafeteria.  But, raw milk is not like hamburger, or is it?  That is exactly what I have been thinking these past few months as I witness more and more children being poisoned by a product that is touted as good for you and safe.

The environment in which the cows graze (on grass or on grain) contains microorganisms that can find their way into the cows gut or onto hair or udder, so whether you are milking or killing the cow and turning it into hamburger, the risk of bacterial contamination is there.

I do not have all the answers.  In fact, I do not have many of them.  That’s why I want you and I to be looking at these things together.  During the next months, we will be taking up in this blog issues associated with raw milk.  We have to get back to that old-fashioned entity of conscience – yours, mine and societies in general.

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Tim Rausch wrote this morning that Castleberry's Food Company might be sold – “Brand might be sold”

The Canadian investment fund that owns Castleberry's Food Co. said it is considering selling the canned meat company, whose 400-employee Augusta plant was linked to a botulism scare last year. Toronto-based Connors Bros. Income Fund has started a "strategic" review of its meat product brands, which includes Castleberry's and Sweet Sue. The fund's Bumble Bee and Clover Leaf seafood brands are not part of the review.

Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Clostridium botulinum is the name of a group of bacteria commonly found in soil. It is an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming rod that produces a potent neurotoxin. These rod-shaped organisms grow best in low oxygen conditions. The bacteria form spores, which allow them to survive in a dormant state until exposed to conditions that can support their growth.

According to the CDC, as of August 24, 2007, eight cases of botulism have been reported from Indiana (2 cases), Texas (3 cases), and Ohio (3 cases). The illness onset dates range from June 29 to August 7, 2007. All eight persons were reported to have consumed hot dog chili sauce made by Castleberry's Food Company. The two cases in Indiana occurred in two persons who shared a meal that included Castleberry's hot dog chili sauce the day before illness onset. Botulinum toxin was identified in both patients' sera and leftovers containing hot dog chili sauce collected from the patients' refrigerator. The three cases in Texas occurred in two siblings and their mother, who shared a meal containing Castleberry's hot dog chili sauce the day before the siblings became ill. The three Ohio cases occurred in unrelated persons who consumed Castleberry's hot dog chili sauce in the week before illness onset. One person reported consuming the chili sauce in early August, after the product was recalled. Botulinum toxin was identified in leftover chili sauce collected from this patient's refrigerator.

We are investigating two illnesses likely linked to the Castleberry outbreak.  One of the cases is from Hawaii and the other is one of the counted cases from Ohio.

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I was reading a story tonight about how a “US store chain cuts sales of food from China” and was a bit shocked that Trader Joe’s really intends to eliminate "all single ingredient food items (whatever that means) sourced from Mainland China are scheduled to be out of our stores by April 1.” Apparently, Trader Joe’s is basing this move on customer complaint stemming from “a series of consumer scares last year involving harmful products from major exporter China, including seafood, cat food, medicines and toys, led to mass product recalls and the tightening of US safety regulations (NO, it did not).”

Here is an interesting fact. In fifteen years of food litigation, guess how many cases of human food poisoning I have seen out of China – zero (OK, they have clearly killed some dogs and cats in the US, and recently sicked a bunch of people in Japan). Yes, Chinese products have been in the news as of late, but the reality it that US corporations do a great job of poisoning us without help from China or anywhere else for that matter.  Trader Joe’s, you should be ashamed for focusing on a problem from China that really does not exist. Joe, take a walk around your store and look at all of your products that you have sold that have caused illness over the last few years – how many have come from outside the US?

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Instead of looking out my window today, I spent much of it reviewing the Final Veggie Booty Salmonella Report by the New York Department of Health and all the attached documents.  One thing caught my attention – the number of Salmonella strains found in this outbreak. Strains included:

Salmonella Wandsworth, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Mbandaka, Salmonella sp., Salmonella Kentucky, Salmonella Haifa and Salmonella Saint Paul

Also found was Enterobacter sakazakii. Enterobacter sakazakii is a gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium within the family Enterobacteriaceae. The organism was called "yellow-pigmented Enterobacter cloacae" until 1980 when it was renamed Enterobacter sakazakii. The majority of cases of infection reported in the peer-reviewed literature have described neonates with sepsis, meningitis, or necrotizing enterocolitis as a consequence of the infection. The Report in part reads:

In May 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) begun a multi-state investigation in response to an increase in laboratory reports, first posted on the PulseNet WebBoard on April 2, 2007, of Salmonella Wandsworth. Salmonella Wandsworth is a very rare serotype that was never before implicated in a U.S. outbreak. As of September 6, 2007, there were 69 reported cases of Salmonella Wandsworth in 23 states and 14 cases of Salmonella Typhimurium in six states who became ill after consuming Veggie Booty, a puffed vegetable snack food with a raw, dried vegetable coating.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted food and environmental sampling at the factories used to make the season Veggie Booty snack products. Veggie Booty is coated with a raw spice/seasoning that includes eight different vegetable ingredients blended together. Samples from the seasoning tested by the FDA were reported positive for the outbreak strains of Salmonella Wandsworth and Salmonella Typhimurium. The FDA also found isolates in the seasonings positive for Salmonella Mbandaka. The suspected Salmonella Mbandaka isolate was a brand new pattern.

A total of 61 bags were tested in twelve states. Salmonella sp. was isolated from thirteen bags of Veggie Booty. Eleven of the thirteen bags were positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Wandsworth and one bag was positive for Salmonella Typhimurium and Enterobacter sakazakii. One bag tested positive for Salmonella Kentucky. CDC reported Salmonella Haifa and Salmonella Saint Paul were isolated from bags of Veggie Booty.

The Full Report can be found here.

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Would you eat this, Listeria or not?  Minnesota State officials say consumers should avoid consuming smoked pork and beef bratwurst made by J&B Meats, of Barnesville, because it may be contaminated with Listeria bacteria.  The Minnesota Department of Agriculture says there are no reports of illnesses from the product. The contamination was found through routine testing.  J&B Meats sold the bratwurst at its retail store in Barnesville, about 20 miles southeast of Moorhead. The sausages are often sold frozen.  The affected bratwurst bears the lot number PBB30306, and Minnesota State Establishment Number 1198. Consumers who have any are asked to return it to the store.

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The Associated Press reports that the families of two children sickened by the E. coli bacteria are suing a Fresno dairy.  The lawsuits filed Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court accuse Organic Pastures Dairy Co. of shipping raw milk tainted with the bacteria to stores in September 2006. That's when at least five children fell ill after consuming the dairy's products.  Testing at Organic Pastures did not detect the strain of E. coli that sickened some of the children, but a government report last February said the dairy was likely responsible.  Organic Pastures has also had problems with listeria according to the FDA and it is rumored to be under investigation by the State of California for a campylobacter problem as well.

Eleven-year-old Lauren Herzog (complaint) and 9-year-old Chris Martin (complaint) both consumed raw milk produced by Organic Pastures in early September of 2006. Lauren became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection on September 6. Her illness subsequently developed into HUS, a life-threatening complication of E. coli infection that can cause kidney failure and central nervous system impairment, and she was hospitalized on September 8. Lauren suffered acute renal failure and required approximately two weeks of daily kidney dialysis. She remained hospitalized until October 18, 2006, when she was discharged with over $250,000 in medical bills.

Chris became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection on September 5, 2006 and he was hospitalized on September 7. Like Lauren, Chris suffered HUS. His condition worsened and he was transported by helicopter to a Children’s hospital and was placed in pediatric intensive care. Chris’ kidneys failed and he required weeks of daily dialysis, as well as multiple blood transfusions. He was placed on a ventilator as a result of impending congestive heart failure, and remained on the ventilator for five days, was briefly taken off the ventilator, and later returned for several more days. Chris suffered a number of seizures as a result of his HUS. He also developed high blood pressure and pancreatitis. Chris was discharged from the hospital on November 2, 2006, nearly two months after he was admitted, with over $450,000 in medical bills.

Mark McAfee, the founder of Organic Pastures Dairy Company was quoted in the Rutger’s Daily Targum yesterday in an article entitled – “Dairy farmers get 'raw' deal:”

"It is a tragedy that the idea that germs make you sick took off, and to this day, it's all about killing bacteria and there is little cause to promote good bacteria," McAfee said. "We are symbiotically living with bacteria. We are literally bacterio-sapiens."
He noted that the human environment and the environment in which milk is grown that often causes the presence of sickness causing pathogens. His dairy company has open, grassy fields where dairy cows can roam freely and be bathed in sunlight, all while retaining their health.

"Raw milk has the things we crave," McAfee said, adding that it is enzyme rich and has a diversity of beneficial bacteria, as well as good raw saturated animal fats from grass grazing cows.

"Two hundred and forty seven people a day are being killed by antibiotic resistant superbugs," McAfee said. "That's like a jumbo jet crashing daily. Nobody wants to prevent disease, because disease makes money. You are saturated everyday by television advertisements that tell you if you have a problem, see a doctor because we have a cure. In western medicine, you turn off the symptoms while the underlying disease is killing you."

He reinforced his belief of raw milk and its ability to build the immune system, which can help fight off and prevent disease.

"You have a living immune system in raw milk, yet we can't speak of this because we are undoing what is settled science," he said. "Mother nature got it right, and it's been right for a long time."

Here is a bit of video on Mark, "the raw milk ninja." 

It is good to see my friends at The Complete Patient are paying attention – see David’s last two posts – 1 and 2.  I can not wait to get some input from Dr. Mercola, the Weston Price Foundation and Ron Paul.

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The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported again on the ongoing story last week of about 33 illness of Salmonella Paratyphi B tied to the consumption of yellow fin Tuna Ahi. Now Choyce Products announced that it has voluntarily recalled 11,000 pounds of previously frozen yellow fin tuna that tested positive for salmonella. About 5,000 pounds of the contaminated Ahi was sold to some five businesses, but it is not clear how much was recovered or if any had already been sold to consumers.

The Health Department believes the illnesses are related to previously frozen ahi, which was imported to Hawaii and eaten raw.

Salmonella Paratyphi B is host-specialized, for it grows well and causes disease only in humans, whereas most strains of Salmonella can grow in the gut of almost all animals, both domesticated and wild. Humans usually acquire Salmonella Paratyphi B by the ingestion of water or of food that has been contaminated through fecal contact with humans. Most isolates of Salmonella belong to the species S. enterica, which is further subdivided into many serovars based on antigens on their surface; one of these serovars is Paratyphi B. Paratyphi B is quite diverse and human infection is sometimes not associated with human to human system infection but rather associated with foodborne infection (Prager et al, 2003).

Hawaii would be a good trip to take this time of year.

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The Associated Press reported that hamburger chains Jack-In-the-Box and In-N-Out, as well more than 150 school districts around the nation, have banned meat from a Chino, California slaughterhouse after a video showed workers brutalizing sick and crippled cows. School districts in at least 11 states have stopped using ground beef from Hallmark Meat Packing Co. and its associated Westland Meat Co. until a federal investigation is complete.

Jack in the Box, which has restaurants in 18 states, told its meat suppliers not to use Hallmark until further notice. The San Diego-based company does not purchase meat directly from slaughterhouses, so it was unclear whether it had used any Hallmark meat, she said. In-N-Out, an Irvine-based chain, also halted use of the beef, saying it would never condone the inhumane treatment of animals. McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food chain, said it does not do business with the slaughterhouse. Burger King, based in Miami, said it does not buy beef from the packing house and has no connection to the supplier.

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Helen Altonn of the Hawaii Star Bulletin profiled crack Epidemiologist, Dr. Paul Effler, as he helped break the outbreak of a rare type of salmonella poisoning on Oahu that is linked to similar cases on the mainland. The case was cracked through the use of "genetic fingerprints" of the bacteria's DNA. According to the Bulletin, the illnesses are due to frozen ahi imported and distributed to Hawaii and other places, said Dr. Paul Effler, state epidemiologist.

About 30 cases have been confirmed on Oahu since October, said Janice Okubo, state Health Department spokeswoman. Five people were hospitalized but have been released, she said. " The unusual culprit is known as salmonella Paratyphi B. Because it is rare "doesn't necessarily mean it's serious," Effler said. "It's just more uncommon."

I am speaking in Hawaii in February in part to the Health Department and to Hawaii businesses.  I am glad that Dr. Effler has made my sushi eating a bit safer.

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I also had the chance, sitting here at the Seattle Airport on my way to a status conference in the E. coli outbreak from the summer of 2006 involving a Wendy’s restaurant in Utah, to read again the full report on the Organic Pastures raw milk outbreak from the fall of 2006. It is an interesting read. I wonder if any of the proponents of raw milk and/or the California State politicians have even read it. Here is the Link. The Summary is illuminating:

Six children had E. coli O157:H7 infections and/or HUS. The five available E. coli O157:H7 isolates had identical and unique PFGE patterns supporting a common source of exposure. Five patients consumed raw dairy products from one dairy, and one patient could have consumed raw milk from the same dairy. The environmental investigation at the dairy identified E. coli O157:H7 from three cows but the PFGE patterns of these isolates did not match that of the children. Despite not finding the outbreak strain at this dairy, the source of infection for these children was likely raw milk products produced by the dairy.

I certainly understand in the court of “raw milk public opinion,” blaming raw milk for poisoning children is considered heresy – something like burning a copy of “Fast Food Nation” or the “Omnivore’s Dilemma.” However, the bottom line in a court of law is that raw milk, organic spinach, a Big Mac or a jar of Peter Pan are all treated equally.

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According to the Kern Faculty Medical Group, they expect to have enough hepatitis A vaccine shots after supplies temporarily ran out Saturday. The medical group had given about 90 vaccine shots Saturday morning before supplies ran out, said Dr. Mansukh Ghadiya with the clinic.  Public health officials made arrangements with Kern Faculty Medical Group for people who needed the vaccine or other treatment after news a worker at Chuy's Mesquite Broiler (not to be confused with the Chuy’s in Austin Texas which was famous for serving alcohol to one of the under-age Bush girls) was diagnosed with hepatitis A was released last week.  I bet Chuy's wished they required Hepatitis A vaccines of all employees.

In that last several years we have represented health departments who pay for these shots, the people who stand in line waiting to get them and those unfortunate enough to not get the shots in time. Restaurants have included, Houlihan's, Carl's Jr., Chi-Chi's, D'Angelo's, Friendly's, Maple Lawn Dairy, McDonald's, Quizno's, Silver Grill Location Catering, Subway and Taco Bell.

Hepatitis A is one of five human hepatitis viruses (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E) that primarily infect the liver and cause illness. An estimated 80,000 cases occur each year in the U.S., although much higher estimates have been proposed based on mathematical modeling of the past incidence of infection. Each year, an estimated 100 persons die as a result of acute liver failure in the U.S. due to hepatitis A, but the rate of infection has dramatically decreased since the hepatitis A vaccine was licensed and became available in the U.S. in 1995.

Hepatitis A is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person-to-person. It is spread almost exclusively through fecal-oral contact, generally from person-to-person, or via contaminated food or water. Food contaminated with the virus is the most common vehicle transmitting hepatitis A. The food preparer or cook is the individual most often contaminating the food, although he or she is generally not ill at the time of food preparation. The peak time of infectivity, when the most virus is present in the stool of an infectious individual, is during the two weeks before illness begins. Although only a small percentage of hepatitis A infections are associated with foodborne transmission, foodborne outbreaks have been increasingly implicated as a significant source of hepatitis A infection.

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I missed out on the Legislative Hearing in California on Raw Milk bacterial limits.  However, one of my crack lawyers was there and the hearing is all of tape for later use (from the video it reminds me of a Grateful Dead concert).  The bottom line seems to be that the lawmakers felt the Department of Agriculture had not adequately informed them of possible opposition, and that the two major producers of raw milk would be put out of business because they could not meet the new standards.  There also was some discussion about the pros and cons of drinking raw milk - health benefits vs health risks.  That debate will go on.

Dennis Pollock of the Fresno Bee seems to be one of the only reporters brave enough to join in the Hearing frenzy - "Lawmakers backtrack, push repeal of raw milk limits"

Dairies hit by a new law two weeks ago say the bacteria regulations will force them to shut, and a state agency draws heat.  Just two weeks after new restrictions on raw milk took effect, the Assembly Agriculture Committee voted unanimously this week to repeal them after the state's two raw milk producers said they would go out of business if they had to comply.  The measure, Assembly Bill 1604, would stop enforcement of limits for raw milk of 10 coliform bacteria or less per milliliter until June 30. Effective July 1, it would fix the limit at 50 coliform bacteria or fewer per milliliter.


Some of raw milk's appeal is that it contains "essential probiotic good bacteria," said Mark McAfee, founder and an owner of Organic Pastures.

On the other coast lawmakers also passed legislation to bolster dairy income.  WCAX reported, "Bill Would Let Farmers Sell More Raw Milk."

A new bill in the Vermont legislature would allow farmers to sell unlimited amounts of raw milk directly to consumers.  Supporters say it will provide extra income for farmers.  A gallon of raw milk that's unpasteurized sells for about 6 dollars. Currently there are limits to how much raw milk farmers can sell because of health concerns. The bill would set up new health standards, including regular testing of the milk and labeling requirements. Raw milk could not be sold at retail shops or farm markets-- only direct to consumers. Farmers would also have to keep a list of who buys it.

With the political debate season in full swing, it would be interesting to have the heavy-weights in the Raw Milk debate square off.  So, if we could organize such a debate, who would be the best representative on either side?

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It reads like the who’s who of restaurants - Carl's Jr., Chi-Chi's, D'Angelo's, Friendly's, Houlihan's, Maple Lawn Dairy, McDonald's, Quizno's, Silver Grill Location Catering, Subway, Taco Bell – who we have sued over the last dozen years for allowing either a Hepatitis A infected worker to serve food, or serve food already infected with Hepatitis A. Either way, the outcome has been the same, hundreds sickened, several deaths and tens of thousands of customers standing in line for immune globulin (IG) vaccines.

Now, an employee of Chuy's Mesquite Broiler on Rosedale Highway went to work with Hepatitis A. The Kern County Department of Public Health says the employee worked and was potentially infectious from Friday, January 4 until Thursday, January 10. The Health Department announced that IG vaccines for patrons who have not already received the Hepatitis A vaccines are available. The vaccinations will be available at Kern Faculty Medical Group at 2201 Mount Vernon Avenue, Suite 211 in Bakersfield. You can call them at 661-872-7000 for more information.

Over the last several years, we have repeatedly called on restaurants to voluntarily provide vaccines to employees to prevent this in the first place. My guess is that Chuy’s wishes they would have listened.

Hepatitis A is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person-to-person. It is spread almost exclusively through fecal-oral contact, generally from person-to-person, or via contaminated food or water. Food contaminated with the virus is the most common vehicle transmitting hepatitis A. The food preparer or cook is the individual most often contaminating the food, although he or she is generally not ill at the time of food preparation. The peak time of infectivity, when the most virus is present in the stool of an infectious individual, is during the two weeks before illness begins. Although only a small percentage of hepatitis A infections are associated with foodborne transmission, foodborne outbreaks have been increasingly implicated as a significant source of hepatitis A infection.

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As part of our investigation on behalf of several clients sickened in this outbreak, we were provided the report by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).  The significant parts are below as is the full report.

Background

On October 16, 2007 the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Public Health Laboratory (PHL) identified seven case isolates of Salmonella Typhimurium with indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns (subtype designated TM5b) through routine surveillance. One of the first cases interviewed reported eating at a Quiznos restaurant in Rochester on October 3. The same day, the MDH foodborne illness hotline received a complaint of gastrointestinal illness from a patron who had eaten at the same Quiznos restaurant on October 4. MDH and Olmstead County Public Health Services (OCPHS) initiated an outbreak investigation on October 16.

Conclusions

This was an outbreak of S. Typhimurium infections associated with consumption of tomatoes at a Quiznos restaurant. The tomatoes were likely already contaminated when they entered the restaurant. Based on case meal dates and produce receipt records, the most likely scenario is that the outbreak was due to second-use tomatoes that entered the restaurant on September 27. These tomatoes were stored at room temperature for ripening before being used around October 1. Any prior contamination could have amplified during this ripening period. Tomatoes used during the outbreak period were not available for testing.

Cross contamination of tomatoes from meat was ruled out as a cause of this outbreak, as Quiznos does not receive any raw meat products. Ill foodworkers were identified, including two that were confirmed with the outbreak type of S. Typhimurium; however, these foodworkers were likely victims of the outbreak rather than a source of Salmonella for patrons. Several patron cases reported meal dates prior to foodworker illness onset dates. In addition, handwashing, glove use, and ill employee exclusion policies and practices were found to be appropriate by OCPHS.

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Not to be confused with the problems with the Dallas quarterback. 

On Sunday came the announcement that Rochester Meat was recalling 188,000 pounds of hamburger meat. Also, on Sunday I noted that this was at least the third recall of hamburger in the last several years from this company. Yesterday I posted that “Public health officials in Washington DC, California and Wisconsin are playing a dangerous game with American consumers by refusing to reveal the specific stores or restaurants that may have served meat contaminated by toxic E. coli.” Today, the San Diego Tribune reported that a “17-year-old San Diego County girl became ill in December before a national recall of the beef was announced.” CattleNetworks.com also reported that “the problem was discovered through an investigation initiated by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services and the California Department of Public Health into five illnesses in Wisconsin.”

I have received a few phone calls and emails from concerned people about the complete failure of our national and state health authorities to tell the public where the E. coli-tainted meat from Rochester Meat landed on the publics’ plate. One consistently mentioned name of the recipient of the E. coli-tainted meat is the national restaurant chain, Tony Roma’s. (This was confirmed this morning after speaking to the father of the 17 year old).

Wisconsin restaurant locations:  Fitchburg, Green Bay, Mosinee Wausau

California restaurant locations:  Alhambra, Anaheim, Arcadia, Carson, City Walk, Encino, Fresno, Fullerton, Glendale, Modesto, Montclair, Oakland Jack London Square, Ontario, Palm Desert, San Diego Pacific Beach, San Francisco, San Jose, San Marcos, Temecula, Union City

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Four deaths from mis-pasteurized milk or post-pasteurized contamination of milk on the East Coast and a raw milk campylobacter outbreak just up the road, makes me appreciate the benefits of single malt scotch.  As I posted a few days ago, the Raw Milk Hearings are set for Wednesday, January 16, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4202 of the California State Capitol Building in Sacramento. And, despite the circus-like atmosphere that is everything politics – especially California – I am not sure I will be able to make it in person (parent/teacher conference conflict). Although not to disappoint the paranoid, I will have a lawyer in my office there listening to the testimony.  I hope he brings back a few buttons, t-shirts and protest signs.

Now talk about timing - In other raw milk news, Mary Gallagher of the Bellingham Herald reported this morning on “5 sickened by raw milk.”

Five people were sickened by the bacteria found in raw milk that was recalled last month from a local dairy, the Whatcom County Health Department announced Monday. Four Whatcom County residents and one Skagit County resident tested positive for the same campylobacter jejuni strain that was found in a routine sample of raw milk from Pleasant Valley Dairy. The dairy pulled that batch of milk from the shelves and has resumed its distribution of raw milk. The dairy has changed its testing procedures to reduce the risk of releasing contaminated milk, the health department said.

In an article I missed from a week ago (I admit I was focused once again on Big Beef poisoning us), Barbara LaBoe wrote on: “Dairy pays fine to settle tainted milk case.”

The owners of Woodland's Dee Creek Farm have paid their state fine, finally ending the 2005 E. coli outbreak case.??The dairy, owned by Anita and Mike Puckett, sickened 18 people when E. coli contaminated their raw, or unpasteurized, milk in December 2005. Five children were hospitalized, two in critical condition. While investigating the outbreak the state found several violations, such as not having a dairy license and not properly testing animals for diseases. The dairy was fined $8,000 for violations.

My bet is that the California State Legislature amends or repeals the law setting new standards for the sale of raw milk.  I guess I need to practice my frivolous lawsuits and tune up the ambulance to chase down those damn milk farmers - raw and pasteurized.

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SEATTLE, Wa ----- Public health officials in Washington DC, California and Wisconsin are playing a dangerous game with American consumers by refusing to reveal the specific stores or restaurants that may have served meat contaminated by toxic E. coli, says the Seattle lawyer who represents victims of food-borne illness.

'The public needs to know who may have poisoned their kids,' said Bill Marler, managing partner of the Marler Clark law firm in Seattle.

Marler spoke up Sunday after health officials revealed that 188,000 pounds of ground beef was being recalled by the Rochester Meat Company, a Minnesota firm, because it has been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.  This appears to be the first major recall of 2008.  2007 set a recent record for recalls - topping twenty recalls of over 33 million pounds of meat.

While announcing the nationwide recall, officials have refused to reveal the name of the restaurant or other outlets believed to have served the meat to consumers.  That, Marler says, means that consumers who may be at risk of contracting potentially fatal food-poisoning have no way of knowing – until they get sick.

He called on Dr. Richard A. Raymond, head of Federal Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS), Kevin R. Hayden, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, and Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, to immediately disclose the names and locations of retail outlets that have been associated with the contaminated meat.

The Federal Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) persuaded Rochester Meat Company to issue the recall after investigations revealed that at least six people have been sickened in Wisconsin and California.

'We are hearing from the environmental health community that a national chain restaurant, or restaurants are connected with this recall,' Marler said. 'If so, these public officials are playing a very dangerous game. They are betting that nobody else gets sick because they had no way of knowing they were at risk.'

Marler said there are indications that state officials know of one or more restaurants where contaminated meat has been served and where consumers already have been sickened.  'The public has a right to know the name of that establishment and its involved locations, ' said Marler. ' If more than one is involved, the public has a right to know that too.'

E. coli O157:H7 is a toxic bacteria that shows up in the intestines of cows, where it can infect ground beef or many other food products. In recent years, outbreaks of E. coli have sickened thousands of people in virtually every state, and killed dozens.  Young children and elderly with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk.

The recalled ground beef was produced on October 30, 2007 and November 6, 2007 for sale to restaurants and food service institutions.  The restaurants have been serving ground beef supplied by a company with a history of E. coli problems, Marler said. This is the third recall of ground beef by the Minnesota firm since 1996. Its previous recalls were for 152,000 pounds and 30,000 pounds, according to FSIS records. Only a fraction of the contaminated beef was recovered in those recalls.

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Lightning strikes again and again.  I was able to find that on two occasions in 1996 and 2000, Rochester Meats recalled 152,000 and 30,000 pounds of E. coli-contaminated ground beef. Details from the FSIS website are here - note the amount of the recall and the amount actually recovered:

Case Number: 017-96 Recall Notification Report: N
Date Opened: 08/05/1996 Date Closed: 12/02/1996
Recall Class: 1 Press Release (Y/N): N
Domestic Est. Number: 08999 M Name: ROCHESTER MEATS
Imported Product (Y/N): N Foreign Estab. Number: N/A
City: ROCHESTER State: MN Country: USA
Product: GROUND BEEF PATTIES, FROZEN
Problem: BACTERIA Description: E. COLI O157:H7
Total Pounds Recalled: 152,000 Pounds Recovered: 5,862

Case Number: 061-2000 Recall Notification Report: RNR061-2000
Date Opened: 09/06/2000 Date Closed: 02/27/2001
Recall Class: 1 Press Release (Y/N): Y
Domestic Est. Number: 08999 M Name: Rochester Meats Co
Imported Product (Y/N): Foreign Estab. Number: N/A
City: Rochester State: MN Country: USA
Product: Ground Beef Patties
Problem: BACTERIA Description: E. COLI O157:H7
Total Pounds Recalled: 30,000 Pounds Recovered: 10,064

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Three elderly men have died and at least one pregnant woman has miscarried since last June after drinking listeria-contaminated pasteurized milk from Whittier Farms in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. At least two others have been sickened as well. According to the Massachusetts Department of Health, tests have found no problems with the pasteurization process at the Whittier Farms plant, so investigators have turned their attention to the cooling and bottling machinery. So, the question really becomes where in the process did the milk become contaminated? Assuming that it really was not a problem in under-pasteurization, where, after heating, was the listeria bacteria introduced?

The families of victims of this outbreak have recently contacted us. One of the questions asked is how listeria survived pasteurization or how it was contaminated after pasteurization. Historically, there have been bacteria outbreaks tied to pasteurized milk, but the outbreaks seem tied to under-pasteurization or post-pasteurization contamination.

Date - Location - Species - Cases

1966 - Florida - Shigella flexneri - 97

1975 - Louisiana - Salmonella Newport - 49

1976 - New York - Y. enterocolitica - 38

1978 - Arizona - S. Typhimurium - 23

1979 - UK - Campylobacter jejuni - 3,500

1982 - Tenn., Ark., Miss. - Y. enterocolitica - 172

1983 - Massachusetts - Listeria monocytogenes - 49

1984 - Kentucky - S. Typhimurium - 16

1985 - Illinois - S. Typhimurium - >150,000

1986 - Vermont - Campylobacter jejuni - 35

1992 - UK - Campylobacter jejuni - 23

1992 - UK - Campylobacter sp. - 110

1994 - Illinois - L. monocytogenes - 45

1995 - UK - Campylobacter sp. - 12

1995 - Vermont, New Hampshire - Y. enterocolitica - 10

1999 - UK - E. coli O157:H7 - 114

2000 - Pennsylvania, New Jersey - S. Typhimurium - 93

2004 - Denmark - E. coli O157:H7 - 25

2005 - Colorado - Campylobacter jejuni - 40

2006 - California - Campylobacter jejuni - 1,644

Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) is a foodborne disease-causing bacteria; the disease is called listeriosis. Listeria can invade the body through a normal and intact gastrointestinal tract. Once in the body, Listeria can travel through the blood stream but the bacteria are often found inside cells. Listeria also produces toxins that damage cells. Listeria invades and grows best in the central nervous system among immune compromised persons, causing meningitis and/or encephalitis (brain infection). In pregnant women, the fetus can become infected, leading to spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, or sepsis (blood infection) in infancy.

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It has been a busy week juggling poisoned spinach, peanut butter, pot pies and a rash of contaminated hamburger and milk – and dealing with emails from raw milk advocates, but I am still surprised that no one from Texas every took me up on my $10,000 offer for the return of the missing meat.

Rececca Lopez of WFAA TV in Dallas continues to cover the whereabouts of the American Fresh Foods “mystery meat.” According the Ms. Lopez, “Dallas officers have traveled door-to-door to dozens of restaurants in the area searching for the meat. During their search, officers discovered that the Chicken Shack did buy some of the meat. The Chicken Shack owner said they bought only one box of the meat for $20.”

Nearly a month ago approximately 14,800 pounds of ground beef products stolen, along with the unlocked truck, from the parking lot of American Fresh Foods. According to Land Line Magazine reporter, Clarissa Kell-Holland, “as of Friday, January 11, more than 80 percent of the meat still hadn’t been recovered. Health investigators working on the case confirmed to Land Line that some Dallas residents and area restaurants have been approached by an individual attempting to sell the stolen ground beef products door-to-door.”

As I posted last week, there are still many unanswered questions for American Fresh Foods that "poop" into mind, such as:

1. What were you doing with E. coli-tainted hamburger sitting in your parking lot?

2. What were you going to do with it? Was it going to be destroyed? Were you going to sell it as cooked product?

3. Given that E. coli-tainted hamburger is a danger, how was someone able to back a big rig up to the trailer and drive it off your property?

4. Because you knew the hamburger was adulterated by testing, I can assume that you have done genetic fingerprinting (PFGE) on the offending bug? This will be helpful if people start showing up in ER's with bloody stool. If their stool is tested, and found to have E. coli, and if a PFGE is done, perhaps you can figure out who stole the truck by figuring out who sold the poisoned meat?

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The one thing I really like about litigation is how information surfaces in the oddest places and the strangest times (thanks to super lawyer, Ron Simon).  Take the Peter Pan and Great Value Peanut Butter Salmonella Tennessee cases.  The CDC has updated its total of stool culture positive cases to 714 that includes three differing strains (genetic fingerprints) of Salmonella Tennessee.  Of the 714 cases reported from August 1, 2006 through September 20, 2007, the cluster (PFGE) breakdown is:

583 cases from cluster 0611ALJNX-1c in 46 states

111 cases from cluster 0701MEJNX-1c in 36 states

27 cases from cluster 0702MLJNX-1c in 20 states

7 cases in 6 states contain more than one cluster

73% of the ill people are Female, leaving 27% Male.  81% of the ill were above 18 years of age and 19% under 18.  20% of all sickened were hospitalized, with no reported deaths.  The backup for these numbers and the CDC Epi-Curve (date of onset of illness) of August 1, 2006 to July 19, 2007 is attached.  We have tested well over 1,000 jars of peanut butter and have to date had nearly 10 test positive.  We will be providing that data to the CDC in hopes of helping determine the true shape of the Epi-Curve.

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Billings Channel KULR has reported that people in Yellowstone County are infected with Salmonella.  KULR also reports that it is the same strain of Salmonella that is making people sick in states as far away as Texas and Pennsylvania. Now, the Yellowstone County Health Department is trying to figure out how they are connected.  In the last several weeks, Salmonella outbreaks have been reportedly tied to Safeway hamburger, tomatoes, basil, pulled pork and an unknown source at a restaurant in Pennsylvania and an outbreak in Arizona.

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I have been following this tragic tale since right after Christmas in a series of three posts (1, 2, 3). I was somewhat surprised when Linda Bock of the Worcester Telegram wrote in yesterdays paper that Whittier Farms “voluntarily” stopped production of milk after it had learned that two men over 70 had died, one 87 year old man was still hospitalized and one young woman lost her baby. One wonders how “voluntary” the recall really was? Listeria monocytogenes is a very nasty bug in milk - it clearly can be deadly.

Cornell University, speaking specifically about milk, reported that Listeria monocytogenes can be found in soil and water and has been isolated from a large number of environmental sources. Listeria monocytogenes is destroyed by pasteurization, but if food products are contaminated after pasteurization, Listeria monocytogenes, can grow at refrigerator temperatures.

According to the FDA, Listeria typically causes illness in pregnant adults, newborns, the elderly, and patients with compromised immune systems, but healthy adults and children may also become infected. Symptoms of Listeriosis include flu-like symptoms, fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, headache, septicemia, meningitis, miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, abortion, or death. The CDC reports that in the United States, an estimated 2,500 persons become seriously ill with listeriosis each year. Of these, 500 die. Unfortunatley, is doubtful that fetal deaths are counted in that number.

In June of 2006 researchers at the University of California at Berkeley published disturbing data on “Listeriosis's path to miscarriage traced to placental infection.” Their research showed that the bacteria may invade the placenta, where - protected from the body's immune system - they proliferate rapidly before pouring out to infect organs such as the liver and spleen. The illness they cause often results in miscarriage or infection of the fetus.

Listeria infections in the elderly are also common and can be deadly as well. Not surprisingly, inflammation and atrophy of the gastric mucosa escalates with age. Because stomach acids play an important role in limiting the number of bacteria that enter the small intestine, the low gastric acidity common in the elderly, especially those with gastric ulcer disease, increases the likelihood of infection when bacteria is ingested in food or drink. In addition, underlying (co-morbid) conditions contribute to the morbidity and mortality of infection in the elderly. These conditions make the elderly susceptible to certain complications of an infectious diarrheal illness like electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, and shock. And, finally, as people age the immune system is compromised. It leads to an inappropriate, inefficient, and sometimes detrimental immune response, and its effect on health often manifests most apparently during intense stress (e.g., surgery, sepsis, multiple organ failure, malnutrition, dehydration).

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Well, I tried to take a night off, but the meat industry will simply not let me. I had dinner tonight with, somewhat retired writer and Pulitzer Prize winner, Ross Anderson, and his lovely, and far more accomplished wife, Mary Rothschild. Over a great meal we talked about the Iowa caucuses and what the future might hold for newspapers and bloggers.  We also ran into Lexblogger Kevin.  Well, back to the reality of the meat industry manufacturing E. coli-tainted hamburger.

Michigan Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination

According to an FSIS Press Statement, Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., a Detroit, Michigan firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 13,150 pounds of various cuts of steaks and 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 steak and ground beef products subject to recall were produced on Dec. 20, 21, 24 or 26, 2007 (nice to see they took Christmas off), and were distributed to restaurants in the metropolitan Detroit area. These products were not available for purchase by consumers in retail establishments. Each shipping label bears the establishment number "Est. 8951" inside the USDA mark of inspection. The following products are subject to recall:

* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BALL TIP STEAKS."
* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF NY STRIPS."
* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF T-BONE STEAK."
* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF PORTERHOUSE STEAK."
* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BEEF TOP SIRLOIN STEAKS."
* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, BULK GROUND BEEF."
* Boxes of "Mark's Quality Meats, Inc., BEEF FOR INDUSTRIAL USE ONLY, GROUND BEEF PATTIES."

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I posted a few days ago that Claravale Farm of Paicines and Organic Pastures of Fresno have sued the State of California for setting standards for the quality of raw milk.  Here is the Complaint.

I was curious what the “beef” was really all about. According to the State of California, “the new standard sets a maximum amount of coliform bacteria at no more than 10 bacteria per milliliter (mL) in milk sold raw to the consumer, the same limit required for pasteurized milk. This level is consistent with both national and international public health and food safety requirements as reflected in standards set for pasteurized dairy products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Canadian Food Inspection Service, and the European Economic Community (EEC). It is also the same standard currently used for raw milk sold for direct consumption in several western states, including Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Washington.”

The State also suggested the following for reducing the risk of bacteria being in the raw milk:

• Properly managing manure, bedding, housing and pastures to prevent cows from arriving overly dirty at the milking parlor.

• Washing the udders and teats of cows, and ensuring they are clean and dry prior to milking.

• Ensuring the hands of milkers are clean and dry

• Use of an appropriate commercially available pre-milking teat sanitizer to further reduce the amount of bacteria contacting milking equipment.

• Milking any cows with infected udders last, and ensuring such milk is properly excluded from milk intended for consumption.

• Ensuring all equipment throughout the entire milking system is properly cleaned and sanitized after each milking.

• Ensuring detergents and sanitizers are used at effective concentrations, and that adequate amounts and temperatures of hot water are utilized.

• Establishing and adhering to a maintenance schedule for milking equipment to ensure proper operation and to replace worn out inflations, hoses, gaskets and other parts that can harbor coliform bacteria.

• Providing sufficient refrigeration to ensure milk is properly cooled and stored at 45 degrees or below.

• Ensuring the milk products plant where the raw milk is handled and finally packaged for the consumer is also properly constructed, clean and sanitary. Bottles of raw market milk must be mechanically capped to avoid contamination from workers’ hands.

So, the rules seem to work in other states and other parts of the world?  I certainly hope the State of California does not cave to pressure from the raw milk folks, who seem to spend as much time or more on the internet blogging and making Youtube videos as they do milking. Perhaps Arnold, “The Governator,” will call and ask me to come in to assist in the defense of the State? On the other hand, perhaps I should just stay out of the fight, let the raw milk people win and continue to provide me with work? I’ve always wanted to own land in Fresno and Paicines.  Perhaps I can give up my "Batman" title for "Bill the Barbarian?"

We are continuing to investigate the raw milk and raw milk product E. coli O157:H7 outbreak from the Fall of 2006 that the State of California linked to Organic Pastures.  What we have learned from Health Department records was that there were a total of 6 cases (5 culture confirmed, PFGE patterns indistinguishable) consisting of 4 boys and 2 girls.  The median age was 8 years (range 6 - 18 years).  All had bloody diarrhea - 3 were hospitalized, 2 with HUS.  5 had a history of consuming Organic Pastures raw milk products (one was raw chocolate colostrum).  No E. coli O157:H7 was detected in the product, but high fecal coliform counts were found in the colostrum and chocolate colostrum (at least 1 sample from each product had high standard plate counts).  199 Organic Pastures cows' feces were tested, 3 were positive for E. coli O157:H7 but were different from the outbreak strain by PFGE.

I had posted earlier on "The Legal History of Raw Milk."  I was recently sent a very great PowerPoint from a presentation given at The Association of Food and Drug Officials by Joyce WeinIliya, Assistant Attorney General State of Texas in June of 2007.  The PowerPoint PDF is here.

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Consumers who purchased or were given “home-canned” soup or other canned products from the Schumacher’s Inn in Austin, Potter County, should not open the jars due to the risk of botulism contamination, Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson said today. Consumers who obtained canned products from the restaurant should immediately contact the Pennsylvania Department of Health, toll-free, at 877-PA-HEALTH. The state became involved after a 43-year-old Potter County woman, and some of the chicken soup she said she purchased from the restaurant, tested positive for botulism.

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MISSING MEAT

Clarissa Kell-Holland of Land Line Magazine and I spoke today about the finding of the E. coli-tainted truck.  As she reported, the refrigerated trailer reported stolen from the American Fresh Foods parking lot in Fort Worth, Texas, has been found in Dallas.  However, more than 80 percent of the trailer’s 14,800 pounds of ground meat products – including some that tested positive for E. coli bacteria – are still missing.  The focus now is on protecting consumers who may have been “persuaded to buy beef products under questionable circumstances” like roadside stands or in parking lots, according to Agi Schafer, spokeswoman for American Fresh Foods.  I guess no one wanted the $10,000 reward.

So, I guess the questions for American Fresh Foods are several, but the ones that "poop" into mind are:

1.  What were you doing with E. coli-tainted hamburger sitting in your parking lot?

2.  What were you going to do with it?  Was it going to be destroyed?  Were you going to sell it as cooked product?

3.  Given that E. coli-tainted hamburger is a danger, how was someone able to back a big rig up to the trailer and drive it off your property?

4.  Because you knew the hamburger was adulterated by testing, I can assume that you have done genetic fingerprinting (PFGE) on the offending bug?  This will be helpful if people start showing up in ER's with bloody stool.  If their stool is tested, and found to have E. coli, and if a PFGE is done, perhaps you can figure out who stole the truck by figuring out who sold the poisoned meat?  (CSI Dallas)

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For those with short memories, 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 in 35 states. Ill persons whose Salmonella strain has this genetic fingerprint have been reported from Arizona (1 person), Arkansas (4), California (18), Colorado (9), Connecticut (7), Delaware (5), Florida (2), Georgia (2), Idaho (11), Illinois (7), Indiana (3), Iowa (1), Kansas (4), Kentucky (9), Massachusetts (7), Maryland (7), Maine (2), Michigan (3), Minnesota (7), Missouri (18), Montana (6), Nevada (6), New York (10), North Carolina (2), Ohio (11), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (4), Pennsylvania (18), Tennessee (6), Texas (4), Utah (12), Virginia (9), Vermont (2), Washington (27), Wisconsin (24), Wyoming (3). The common link to all these illnesses were Pot Pies produced by ConAgra. We commenced several lawsuits on behalf of several dozen of the 272 people genetically linked to each other and to ConAgra’s Salmonella-tainted Pot Pies, including one who just received these AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES:

ConAgra, by counsel, reserves the right to rely upon the following affirmative defenses to the claims asserted in Plaintiffs’ Complaint to the extent supported by evidence later developed or facts later learned, without now assuming a burden of proof on any such defense that would otherwise rest on Plaintiffs’ and with reservation of its rights to amend or supplement its responses to Plaintiffs’ Complaint, as well as its affirmative defenses, as information is gathered through discovery.

5.Plaintiffs’ claims are barred in whole or in part by the doctrine of assumption of risk.

6.The negligence of Plaintiffs’, and their failure to use that degree of care as would have been used by ordinary, reasonable and prudent persons under the same or similar circumstances was a, or the sole, proximate cause of their injuries.

7.The alleged injuries and/or damages of Plaintiffs were caused by the alteration, unintended use, abuse, misuse and/or modification of the product referred to in the Complaint in an unforeseeable manner by parties outside the control of ConAgra.

8.Defendant affirmatively alleges that the Plaintiffs’ claim is barred or appropriately reduced by the doctrine of contributory negligence.

9.All alleged defects in the product at issue and all uses or alleged misuses of the product at issue constitute open and obvious hazards that Plaintiffs should have noted and avoided.

Now remember, these Pot Pies were supposed to be pre-cooked and not to contain Salmonella in any event. ConAgra’s defenses are shameful and shameless – talk about frivolous.  By the way, for those at ConAgra reading my blog (you know you do), please check out Doug Powell's video on cooking Pot Pies.

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John Lauritsen of WCCO TV reported:

E. coli Victim Awake After 9 Weeks In Coma


Stephanie Smith's family is calling her recovery a miracle. The 20-year-old Cold Spring woman recently regained consciousness after spending more than nine weeks in a drug-induced coma. Stephanie Smith contracted the E. Coli bacteria after eating Sam's Club hamburger in September. She has been at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester ever since.

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