Personal Injury Law

Cy Vance Jr., newly elected Manhattan District Attorney, stole my job - 21 years ago

Posted on September 16, 2009
A little over a year ago, I hosted a fund-raiser for Cy's run for Manhattan District Attorney.   It was a bit of the 'who's who' of the Seattle legal community – primarily white-collar criminal types (that being the lawyers for those criminals)...

Dan Mitchell of Slate's "Daily Bread" notices Food Safety News

Posted on September 15, 2009
Dan Mitchell of Slate's 'Daily Bread' wrote this morning "Lawyers Launch Food Safety News Site:" Marler Clark, perhaps the best-known law firm involved in food-safety litigation, has launched a news site that the firm describes as "a daily Web-based newspaper dedicated to reporting on issues surrounding food safety...

Strict Product Liability - Question of the Night?

Posted on September 15, 2009
Which multi-billion dollar company raised this defense in response to a recent lawsuit where the consumer ate its product? Under what circumstances should a consumer be held responsible when the purchased food product contains a bacteria or virus?  Should the parent?  Should the child?

Donna M. Byrne, a.k.a. Food Law Professor, notices Food Safety News

Posted on September 15, 2009
Professor Donna M. Byrne of William Mitchell College of Law gave us a 'shout out' about Food Safety News today: Kudos to Marler Clark for launching a promising and informative new website. Food Safety News is a news site rather than a blog (Bill Marler's MarlerBlog is still going strong too)...

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The American Agricultural Law Association has announced the 2009 winner of its Professional Scholarship Award

Posted on September 15, 2009
Richard L. Cupp, Jr.'s article, Moving Beyond Animal Rights: A Legal/Contractualist Critique 46 San Diego Law Review 27 (2009), was chosen for the award.  Cupp's article critiques the analogy made by some animal rights theorists between granting rights to animals and granting rights to corporations and to mentally incapable humans...

Dueling Food Safety Websites - www.foodsafety.gov and www.foodsafetynews.com

Posted on September 14, 2009
So, goes to figure, we launch:     And, the government launches:  

Food Safety News is Live on Third Anniversary of Dole Spinach E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak

Posted on September 14, 2009
We are a bit excited that this has now gone live.  Love to hear your comments.  Click on image to access site:

Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak may be linked to shredded lettuce and 124 Illnesses Nationwide

Posted on September 14, 2009
On the third anniversary of the Dole Spinach E. coli outbreak, once again Lynne Terry of The Oregonian and Bill Keene super, senior epidemiologist, break yet another food poisoning story. This time, according to Ms. Terry, '[f]ederal and state health authorities are investigating a salmonella outbreak that peaked in Oregon in August...

KCRW Radio - Good Food - Food Safety with Bill Marler

Posted on September 13, 2009
Had a great chat with Evan Kleiman of KCRW Radio a few weeks ago.  I am about 8:22 into the podcast - click below:

Raw Milk Debate is set to heat up

Posted on September 13, 2009
Over the last years I have tried to bring some level of rationality to the debate over the consumption of raw milk.  I first published on my blog a summary of the findings of my review of peer-reviewed literature on the topic of the "pros" of the consumption of raw milk...

Muranaka Farm Inc. parsley recalled because of possible salmonella

Posted on September 13, 2009
Muranaka Farm Inc. is recalling 1,005 cases of parsley distributed in 10 states, including Illinois, because it may be contaminated with salmonella. The Moorpark, Calif., company says it's voluntarily recalling cases of 60-count fresh bunched parsley, lot code 0023909, after sampling conducted in cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration showed bacteria...

Windsor Foods Recalls Beef and Bean Burritos for Possible Listeria Contamination

Posted on September 13, 2009
Windsor Foods, a Riverside, California, establishment, is recalling approximately 2,268 pounds of beef and bean burrito products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced...

China International Food Safety & Quality Conference Back on - November 4-5 2009

Posted on September 12, 2009
My 10-year-old daughter, Sydney and I were almost packed for the Conference at the end of the month when it was canceled due to the 60th Anniversary of the revolution.  We are looking forward to attending the Conference on its new dates on November 4 and 5...

Linda Rivera, Mother of Six, Fights for Her Life Tonight Due to E. coli O157:H7

Posted on September 12, 2009
A picture is worth multiple, multiple, millions of words: I spent the day today being feted at the University of Arkansas School of Law and meeting with Tysons and Wal-Wart.  Linda, her parents, her husband and six kids spent the day watching Linda being admitted into another ICU, again...

Back to Washingon DC Next Week - American Insurance Association

Posted on September 12, 2009
Lately it seems I seldom have time to unpack, less alone prepare for another speech.  However, I am looking forward to this DC trip.  I still believe that insurance companies have the ability to positively influence food manufacturers through auditing before issuing a policy and in giving incentives to those manufacturers that adopt food safety measures...

Food Safety News to Go Live September 14, 2009 - Third Anniversary of Dole, Natural Selection Foods and Mission Organics E. coli Outbreak Linked to Spinach

Posted on September 12, 2009
It is not live yet, but by Monday we should have all the "bugs" worked out.  Our goal here is to have a place were "all the news fit to eat" can be found along with all the best information about recalls, new technology and politics...

Kilwin's Quality Confections, Inc. Conducted Nationwide Recall of Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Because of Possible Health Risk Due to Peanut Corporation of America

Posted on September 12, 2009
Several months after the Peanut Corporation of America forced the recall of over 4,000 different peanut products from some 200 companies, another company announced a recall on the FDA Website. Kilwin's Quality Confections, Inc. of Petoskey, MI, is recalling all of our 7 ounce packages of chocolate-covered peanuts, and bulk chocolate-covered peanuts, sold in our retail stores, which were sold prior to April 1, 2009, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems...

The only thing the President missed tonight in the Health Care Speech - Real Health Care Reform Requires Safe Food

Posted on September 10, 2009
President Obama once said: "There are certain things only a government can do. And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat are safe and do not cause us harm.' A few days ago I penned this Op-ed (declined by the Washington post) - it seems a bit more on point tonight after our President's speech: Linda Rivera's excruciating case of food poisoning (Severe Case Gives Context to Issue of Food Safety Washington Post 9/1/09) should shine some light on a crucial reality that is missing from most health care reform plans: you can't fix America's health care unless you provide Americans with a safe food supply...

Food Safety Widget from our Government

Posted on September 10, 2009
Food Safety Widget. Flash Player 9 is required. var flashvars = {}; var params = {allowscriptaccess: "always"}; swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.foodsafety.gov/widgets/FoodSafety/FoodSafety.swf", "widget", "190", "338", "9.0.0", "", flashvars, params);

China Internation Food Safety & Quality Conference to be Postponed

Posted on September 10, 2009
I just learned that AQSIQ Minister Wang Yong has called for CIFSQ to be postponed until after the 60th anniversary of the Revolution Celebration (first week of October) is completed.  The Conference is now likely to be set in late October or early November...

Glass Microbiology - E. coli - Deadly in a Beautiful Package

Posted on September 09, 2009
Someone emailed me this link to some very interesting glass art by Luke Jerram.  I guess I know what I will be asking Santa for:

FDA and USDA "Relaunch" New Food Safety Site - Is our food now safer?

Posted on September 09, 2009
Secretaries Sebelius and Vilsack at National Food Policy Conference in DC today announced a redesigned www.foodsafety.gov.  However nice it looks, is our food any safer?  Follow live tweets from conference @foodsafetynews and @obamafoodorama and @AgLawLLM

Steinbeck Country Produce and Ocean Mist Farms Recall Salmonella-tainted, Mexico-grown Green Onions

Posted on September 09, 2009
Two California produce shippers have recalled thousands of cases of green onions supplied by an onion farm in Mexicali, Mexico, over fears the onions could be contaminated with salmonella. U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors found salmonella in a routine test taken in New York last month...

Non-E. coli O157:H7 shiga toxin producing E. coli bacteria are NOT considered adulterants by the FSIS - WHY?

Posted on September 08, 2009
Non-O157 shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are the causative agents of zoonotic emerging infectious diseases, often of bovine origin. Below is a general review of non-O157 STEC prevalence studies in humans, cattle, and beef products. Humans Non-O157 STEC infections are under-recognized and under-reported due to inadequate epidemiological and laboratory surveillance...

A less dire view from CDC on non-O157:H7 shiga toxin producing E. coli

Posted on September 08, 2009
Here is another perspective on non-O157:H7 that seems to indicate that they cause illness, but less severe illness that E. coli O157:H7.  That being said, it is also quite likely that the severe illnesses related to non-O157:H7 are under counted due to a lack of surveillance...

Non-O157 Shiga toxin producing E. coli - A CDC perspective

Posted on September 08, 2009
Here is a CDC PowerPoint that walks through the "Isolation and detection challenges" of Non E. coli O157:H7.  Clearly, the CDC sees the fact that Non-O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli causes human illness, but that our ability to detect it using current lab techniques and resources makes the scope of the problem less clear...

Washington DC is the place to be for Food and Public Policy this Week

Posted on September 07, 2009
I have a bit too much to do this week on the legal front to get to the "other Washington," but we have the DC Bureau of Food Safety News covering both conferences.  So, hopefully if the internet gods play nice, you should be able to read it at www...

Big Boy Food Group Recalls Ready-To-Eat Meal Kits For Possible Listeria Contamination

Posted on September 07, 2009
Recall Release CLASS I RECALL FSIS-RC-046-2009 HEALTH RISK: HIGH Big Boy Food Group, a Warren, Mich., establishment, is recalling approximately 39,514 pounds of ready-to-eat meal kits that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today...

Save Money on Health Care by Making Our Food Supply Safer

Posted on September 06, 2009
Linda Rivera's excruciating case of food-poisoning (Washington Post, Sept. 1) should shine some light on a crucial reality that is missing from all or most health care reform plans: You can't fix America's health care unless you provide Americans with a safe food supply...

Food Safety News dot com - Coming to the Internet near you soon.

Posted on September 05, 2009
We decided to create a "one stop shop" for everything food safety.  This will be the place to get "all the news that fit to eat" - and warnings what not to eat too.  There will be news and opinion feeds from Bites, Blogs (www...

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