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
I am at the Food-Borne Illness Litigation Conference being sponsored by the American Conference Institute. So far the conference has been very informative. Here is the description of the conference:
2007 was the year of the recall, with e-coli contamination increasing sharply in 2007 over the previous two years. And it’s not just beef recalls
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
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
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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,
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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
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I spoke with Julie Schmit of USA TODAY during a layover in Dallas on my way home about her story this morning “Feds still tracing millions of pounds of recalled meat.” She reported that: “Federal officials said Thursday that more than a third of the meat recalled Sunday in the largest meat recall ever went
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
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 2004Continue Reading Westland and Hallmark Recalled Beef Went to Schools
Although I am down in the “Big Easy” at the GMA’s 2008 Food Claims and Litigation Conference, I still had the time to edit and file what appears to be the second lawsuit against Castleberry’s for producing Botulism contaminated food.
According to the CDC, as of August 24, 2007, eight cases of botulism
