Health Law

The Silence of the Peppers: Why it matters

By Drew Falkenstein

We are currently investigating the illnesses of 15 people potentially sickened by Salmonella-contaminated Salami.  There is the possibility, as well, that other products are contaminated by Salmonella montevideo or other strains of salmonella, yet we know virtually nothing about the whereabouts of the pepper.  We were contacted yesterday by a young woman from Washington sickened in late January 2010 . . . after the Daniele Inc recall of 1.2 million pounds of potentially contaminated salami.  She bought the salami at Costco, but didn't consume it until after word of the outbreak and recall had been announced.  She just didn't know that the outbreak was occuring.

Had more effort been put forth to make people aware of the outbreak and dangers associated with consuming the implicated product, this woman's illness may not have happened, and she would not now be in danger of losing her job because of missed work days due to illness.  This outbreak is associated with a product--actually two products, pepper and salami--with very long shelf lives.  In such a situation, where there is more than a slim possibility that contaminated product will stay in people's homes well past public announcement of an outbreak or recall, better effort and more resources need to be devoted to informing the public of the risks they face. 

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on February 07, 2010 (boomark / email).