Personal Injury Law

Restaurant Inspection Report Score Cards - State by State, City by City Portal

Posted on March 08, 2011
We have been working on ways to keep consumers informed on issues of Food Safety.  That is why we have all the below "bug" websites and why I sponsor specifically Food Safety News (FSN) and the Foodborne Illness Outbreak Databse.  It is ultimately the free market - consumers being aware of companies with good and bad food safety histories - that will help make food safer in the long run by having consumers vote with their pocketbooks...

New Artilce - Establishing a Milkborne Disease Outbreak Profile: Potential Food Defense Implications

Posted on March 08, 2011
Ryan Newkirk, Craig Hedberg, and Jeff Bender in FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE did a masterful job of explaining how to do an foodborne disease outbreak investigation – from the perspective of a milkborne one Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to establish baseline characteristics for milkborne outbreaks, establish an expected milkborne outbreak profile, and identify potential indicators of food terrorism...

Northern California American Society for Microbiology

Posted on March 08, 2011
Although it seems like I just landed from Istanbul, I am off this Firday to California to give a talk on Saturday to a meeting of the Northern California American Society for Microbiology on "Separating the Wheat from the Chaff - How we do what we do and use science to do it!" 2011 NCASM Conference: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff with Bill Marler View more presentations from Bill Marler

George Packing tells FDA to go packing - Packer refuses to name suppliers in E. coli probe

Posted on March 08, 2011
Capital Press reporter Mateusz Perkowski got Shaun George to engage his mouth before his brain in today's story – 'Hazelnut packer declines FDA request for grower list.' According to the Press, George 'has refused to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a list of its farmer suppliers the agency requested as part of an investigation into a disease outbreak...

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Some final thoughts on Istanbul

Posted on March 07, 2011
Not thoughts so much as the visual experience of the people and the markets.  Some food I purchased (spices), and some food I just took pictures of:

Secondary cases are a clear public health threat

Posted on March 07, 2011
I just landed from a 10-hour flight from Istanbul to New York and I have a few moments to update my blog.   On the plane I read the interesting CDC study from Scotland on the prevalence of 'Secondary Cases' (person-to-person transmission from a primary E...

Skippy Recalls Reduced Fat Creamy and Super Chunk Peanut Butter due to Salmonella Risk

Posted on March 06, 2011
Unilever United States, Inc. today announced a limited recall of Skippy® Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy® Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter Spread, because it may 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...

DeFranco E. coli Hazelnut and Skippy Salmonella Peanut Butter Recall Announcement - A Side by Side Comparison

Posted on March 06, 2011
The FDA posts company prepared press releases each time there is a recall of product – whether there are illnesses or not. Hazelnut E. coli O157:H7 In the case if DeFranco Hazelnuts, the company proudly notes that the recall is 'voluntarily,' although was prompted, 'after the nut products were linked to 7 illnesses in the states of MI, MN, and WI...

Cheese and Dairy Importers face criminal charges

Posted on March 05, 2011
According to AP, a Miami couple and their company face federal charges of importing cheese and other dairy products into the U.S. that were contaminated with Salmonella and other bacteria. Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Yuri Izurieta and 46-year-old Anneri Izurieta are charged with smuggling and conspiracy...

"A room with a view" in Istanbul

Posted on March 04, 2011
Aya Sofya, built by Emperor Justinian, is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, and right outside my window on the Europe side of the Bosphorus. From the date of its dedication in 360 A.D. until 1453, it served as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral...

Hazelnuts shipped to Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin linked to E. coli O157:H7 Illnesses

Posted on March 04, 2011
Being up early here in Istanbul (Morning Prayer call is 5:30 AM and the Minaret is 100 meters away), this press release from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) dropped into my inbox: MDH and MDA are working with counterparts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and federal agencies to investigate cases of E...

Traceability after Spinach

Posted on March 03, 2011
Sara Rubin of the Monterey County Weekly wrote a thought-provoking story on traceability in the produce industry – 'From the Field to the Fork, Tracing the Traceability Issue.' The piece is worth a read – especially some of the quotes: The flipside of protection is increased exposure for the culpable party...

Inspector General Fong questions FSIS sampling for E. coli O157:H7 in beef trim

Posted on March 03, 2011
According to press reports, in a testimony before the food agency subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations Phyllis K. Fong, Inspector General of the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) discussed its budget request and recent audit and investigative activities...

Human breast milk ice cream seized in London?

Posted on March 02, 2011
I should have paid attention to being blocked here in Dubai from the BBC website (I suppose it might be my search term, 'breast").  Now, after reading the article (there are ways around the block) my faith is some of my fellow humans are being sorely tested...

CDC comes to Dubai to train in the art of outbreak investigations

Posted on March 01, 2011
Don Sharpe, head of CDC - CIFOR, Vince Radke, CDC Sanitarian and Ian Wiliams, head of CDC – OutbreakNet, were part of a very interesting discussion on how foodborne illness outbreak investigations are conducted in the Untied States and throughout the world today at the International Food Safety Conference...

A Day in Dubai - Doctor, Restaurant Supervisor and Cook Fined and Ordered to pay "Blood Money"

Posted on February 28, 2011
After giving my speech this afternoon at the 6th Annual Dubai Food Safety Conference, I was approached by a reporter or Gulf News about my thoughts that the doctor, a restaurant's cook and a supervisor had been fined Dh10,000 each (about $2,750US), and ordered to jointly pay blood money (money or some sort of compensation paid by an offender (usually a murderer) or his family group to the family or kin group of the victim) to the parents of a five-year-old boy, Nathan D'Souza, and his seven-year-old sister Chelsea, who died of food poisoning in 2009...

Faster Response to Foodborne Outbreaks Makes "Cents"

Posted on February 27, 2011
Three years after a Salmonella outbreak, first linked to United States Tomatoes and then Mexican Peppers, that sickened about 1,500 people and claimed two lives, U.S. epidemiologists have learned that speed is of the essence in identifying sources of food contamination and preventing further infection...

Merle's BBQ Restaurant linked to Clostridium perfringens Outbreak

Posted on February 26, 2011
According to press reports, the City of Evanston said Merle's BBQ Restaurant was the source of a recent food borne illness outbreak that caused 30 people to get sick. The Evanston restaurant was catering parent/teacher conferences at Haven Middle School on Feb...

Dubai Food Safety Conference Starts Sunday

Posted on February 26, 2011
Checking in to the Burj Al Arab at 11:00 PM Friday after a flight from Seattle to Atlanta and Atlanta to Dubai, left me a few more hours to tweak by Power Point for my lunch time speech at the Dubai Food Safety Conference on Monday. Hopefully, the attendees will be paying attention to my speech and not wondering about their lunch?

Find Your Health Department to Report Food Poisoning or Foodborne Illness

Posted on February 24, 2011
Most state health departments encourage consumers to report food poisoning incidents to local health departments.  Food Safety News has provided links (see below) to pages on state health department or public health association Web sites where you can directly report a foodborne illness, or where you can obtain contact information to report your illness to your local public health agency...

Call for Nominations for up to four state or local health or state agricultural department employees to attend IAFP 2011

Posted on February 24, 2011
The IAFP Foundation, through a contribution from Marler Clark, will fully support travel, hotel and registration expenses for up to four state or local health or state agricultural department employees to attend IAFP 2011.  Click here for the Awards criteria and Application form...

Corrections and Contributions sought for Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database

Posted on February 24, 2011
Welcome to outbreakdatabase.com, a searchable database of illness outbreaks caused by one or more of the following 1. consumption of contaminated foods or beverages, 2. exposure to animals, 3. exposure to contaminated recreational water, 4. person-to-person contact with someone whose illness initiated from animal exposure or consumption of contaminated foods and beverages...

The Epidemiology of Foodborne Illness with Patti Waller of Marler Clark

Posted on February 23, 2011
It is great to have the best and most experienced foodborne illness epidemiologist in any law firm in the United States a few doors down the hall.

Food Safety - the "Rest of the Story, " or "Show me the Money?"

Posted on February 23, 2011
Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H., (a.k.a., the god of food safety epidemiology) wrote today in the New England Journal of Medicine – 'Foodborne Disease in 2011 — The Rest of the Story' today. Here are the highlights: So will the Food Safety Modernization Act result in immediate improvements in food safety? The legislation brings long overdue modernization to the FDA's food-safety activities...

The 2008 Outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul infections linked to Tomatoes ... errr ... Peppers

Posted on February 23, 2011
If there ever was a reason (in addition to the risk of bio-terrorism) to apply more resources to national and state surveillance of bacterial outbreaks, the 2008 Salmonella outbreak that sickened 1500 people in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada is one that I hear (from consumers and industry) most often...

Senator Leahy Asks DOJ For Update On Peanut Corp. Of America Investigation

Posted on February 22, 2011
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) sent a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder, requesting information on the Department's investigation into the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA).  In 2009, more than 2,000 products containing peanuts processed at PCA were recalled for possible salmonella contamination...

London Grocery Store Chickens Risky

Posted on February 21, 2011
The Tests - According to tests on 20 grocery store chickens, picking up a package of chicken in Asda, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's and Tesco could put you at risk of food poisoning. E. coli was found on one of the chickens from Sainsbury's...

Everything you always wanted to know about food poisoning but were afraid to ask

Posted on February 19, 2011
With nearly two decades of foodborne illness litigation behind us, tens of thousand of clients and hundreds of experts involved in those cases, we have developed what I hope is a lot of good information about the state of food illness in the Untied States...

Hello, I am your waiter and I should be home - if I had sick leave

Posted on February 18, 2011
I did get up a bit too early this morning, but just in time to see Elizabeth Cohen at CNN report - "US: Restaurant workers show up sick:" One out of eight restaurant workers has come to work at least twice in the past year while suffering from diarrhea or vomiting, according to a new survey of workers in nine states...

The Ohio State - Consumers will pay more for food that will not kill them

Posted on February 18, 2011
Now, that is a shock.  But, according to research supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the University of Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station; the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center; and the Marvin and June Morrison Chair in Agribusiness at Arizona State University, that is exactly what was found...

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