The CDC reports: Shigellosis is a nationally notifiable diarrheal illness caused by gram-negative bacteria. Shigella infection is spread through fecal-oral transmission and sexual contact. Although most infections are self-limited, antibiotics are indicated for severe illness or to reduce transmission in settings with high risk for spread. Since 2015, a growing proportion of cases has been caused by […]
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 […]
I love a late night food quiz when I’m on the road and can not sleep. Thanks to the folks at the Cleaner Plate Club Blog. It was sad that I was able to answer most of the questions correctly. Click on the photo below from the Cleaner Plate Blog to try it yourself: I […]
Stephen Smith of the Boston Globe reported on the tragedy of yet another death tied to milk consumption. This death increases the number of deaths to three elderly men and the death of an unborn child. Also, according to the Globe the outbreak numbers have increased to five: State disease investigators also reported today that […]
I am in Reno (no, I’m not gambling) attending a food safety conference sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists and the Food Safety Research and Response Network. My talk in the morning is “Minimizing Your Liability Risk and Foodborne Illness Lawsuits.” The PowerPoint is below. Also, for some additional information about how we approach […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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), […]
According to Stephen Smith of the Boston Globe Staff in his article, “State test points to dairy as germ source:” Coffee-flavored milk taken from a cooler at a central Massachusetts dairy carried germs identical to bacteria that killed two elderly men and made two other people sick…. Genetic fingerprinting conducted at the state laboratory has […]
Winston Churchill once said, “There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.” Perhaps he was right, but at the turn of the 20th century, the process of pasteurizing milk was still in its infancy, and the safety of milk was a preeminent public health challenge. As people in the United […]
The Law Blog 2007 Year-End Quiz! 14. What does the wife of foodborne-illness lawyer Bill Marler have on her vanity license plate? a. RAWMEAT? b. SALMNLLA? c. ECOLI? d. HEPATITIS
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 […]