Marler Blog - Providing commentary on food poisoning outbreaks & litigation

Our fourth food poisoning lawsuit was filed today in the enormous egg recall and Salmonella outbreak tied to two Iowa egg farms. The lawsuit was filed against Quality Egg (doing business as Wright County Egg) in the Northern District Court of Iowa, Western Division just as the FDA released its report on Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms.

“It’s almost a given that these kind of unhygienic conditions would produce contamination and illness. I hoped I had seen the last of this kind of disregard for public safety after the peanut butter outbreak, but this manages to be even worse.”

The plaintiff, a California mother of two young children, ate a custard dessert at a graduation banquet in May 2010. A few days later, she began to suffer from severe gastrointestinal symptoms including abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Her symptoms continued to worsen, and she was admitted to the hospital, where she remained for 4 days. She was released but had to be readmitted at the end of June for another 5 days. While hospitalized, she tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella enteritidis. The California Department of Health confirmed that the eggs used to make the dessert she consumed came from Wright County Egg.

“The FDA report on these farms details appalling conditions,” said food safety attorney Bill Marler. “It’s almost a given that these kind of unhygienic conditions would produce contamination and illness. I hoped I had seen the last of this kind of disregard for public safety after the peanut butter outbreak, but this manages to be even worse.”

In August 2010, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms together recalled 550,000,000 eggs due to contamination with Salmonella. To date, 2,403 illnesses have been confirmed in Alaska, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

And, our investigators have confirmed that the FBI has been in and around the Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms egg factories.

I am heading to Chicago to attend two E. coli O157:H7 mediations and the annual CDC PulseNet conference, and just got the chance to read Mr. Schneider’s “USDA Lax on E. Coli Strain Linked to Beef Recall.”

I would urge all to do so.

I know realistically that raising a few chickens for eggs in my backyard (presently in the guest room shower) will not change what happened over the last few weeks with the US Egg Industry.  And, I know that the eggs are not necessarily safer, but I felt I needed to do something other than sue some corporation for poisoning 1,400 people.  Plus, my 11-year-old was bugging me all last week about getting some.

The chicks were not that expensive, nor the feed.  Right now they are housed in an old Hamster cage. However, once the designer coop and the fence are built to keep out raccoons and eagles - well, I do not want to think about how much the eggs will be per dozen.

Update:

The CDC and FDA released FDA's Form 483 reports on Hillandale Farms and Quality Egg LLC (Wright County Egg) Monday. The 483 is a standard form that FDA’s field investigators use to note what they have observed during an inspection. The form does not include the final Agency determination of the company’s compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, but rather, it details the observations made during the inspection by the inspection team.

Hillandale Farms, New Hampton, IA, 483 Issued 8/26/2010

Quality Egg LLC (Wright County Egg), Galt, IA, 483 Issued 8/30/2010

In another late Friday night press release, FSIS announced that Cargill Meat Solutions Corp., a Wyalusing, Pa. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,500 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O26.

FSIS became aware of the problem on August 5, 2010 when the agency was notified by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources of an E. coli O26 cluster of illnesses. In conjunction with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, the New York State Department of Health, and New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, two (2) case-patients have been identified in Maine, as well as one (1) case-patient in New York with a rare, indistinguishable PFGE pattern as determined by PFGE subtyping in PulseNet. PulseNet is a national network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Illness onset dates range from June 24, 2010, through July 16, 2010.

* 42-pound cases of "GROUND BEEF FINE 90/10," containing three (3) - approximately 14 pound chubs each. These products have a "use/freeze by" date of "07/01/10," and an identifying product code of "W69032."

The products subject to recall bears the establishment number "EST. 9400" inside the USDA mark of inspection. These products were produced on June 11, 2010, and were shipped to distribution centers in Connecticut and Maryland for further distribution. It is important to note that the above listed products were repackaged into consumer-size packages and sold under different retail brand names.

According to the CDC - non-O157 E. coli STECs (like O26, O45, 0103, O111, O121, and O145) cause 36,700 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations and 30 deaths in America each year.  And, tell me why our government has not agreed to adopt my "Petition for an Interpretive Rule Declaring all enterohemorrhagic Shiga Toxin-producing Serotypes of Escherichia coli (E. coli), Including Non-O157 Serotypes, to be Adulterants Within the Meaning of 21 U.S.C. sec. 601(m)(1)?"

For those interested in a bit more background, look at these links:

Marler's Response to the American Meat Institute Statement on New Bill to Declare Additional Strains of E. coli as Adulterants

Supplemental Reasons Why Non-O157's - like O145 - Should be Adulterants

It is Time (past time) for the FSIS to deem both Shiga-Toxin E. coli and Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Adulterants

Also, I put my money were my mouth was and funded a $500,000 testing project to both test for non-O157 prevalence and to see if testing was practical.

Fruiti Pops, Inc. of Santa Fe Springs has recalled its mamey frozen fruit bars because of a possible link to a rare U.S. outbreak of typhoid fever.  The company said Thursday that the fruit bars were distributed in California, Arizona and Texas since May 2009.

Fruiti Pops says retail stores, ice cream trucks and vending machines sold the frozen fruit bars, which have the UPC number 763734000097.

The company says the frozen fruit bars were made from contaminated mamey pulp that Goya Foods, Inc. voluntarily recalled on Aug. 12, after it was linked to a typhoid fever outbreak in California and Nevada. So far no illnesses have been reported from the mamey fruit bars.

When lawyers talk about “the smoking gun,” we are usually talking documents, not finding genetically matching Salmonella Enteriditis samples at Wright County Egg and in its chicken feed – but that will work too.

So, where are we? The FDA and Wright County Egg Recall number is still 550,000,000, which was announced August 15. And, newer numbers on those ill are now at least 1,500 according to the CDC. However, we still have very little information on the actual spread of those illnesses on a state-by-state basis.

Now in addition to the questions raised on how this Salmonella Enteriditis outbreak happened, are questions about when Wright County Egg and local, state and federal officials knew that the public was at risk. Someone who I have a great deal of respect for, Jeff Farrar, DVM, PhD, MPH, associate commissioner of food safety at FDA, has defended the government's response to the contamination, which has been criticized by others as too slow.

"We have to strike a balance between being timely and being accurate," he said, noting that the FDA requested that Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms initiate the recall before lab results had confirmed that the companies' eggs were the source of the outbreak.

It is hard to argue with Jeff. However, because of the litigation we have filed, we received public health records today from the County of Kenosha (WI) Department of Human Services, as part of our ongoing investigation of the nationwide Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak. A partial selection of the records can be viewed here: County of Kenosha (WI) Department of Human Services Records

Among some of the interesting notes:

• An email on August 6, 2010, showing the connection between the Baker Street restaurant outbreak and the larger outbreak: "we were able to link the eggs from Baker Street to a large egg farm in Iowa."

• References to an egg distributor from Milwaukee, Reinhardt, as a common source of eggs to implicated restaurants, and the statement that Reinhardt "receives their eggs directly from Wright County Egg."

• Discussion of clusters of illnesses with a matching strain in Minnesota, as well as "additional restaurant outbreaks in Iowa and Colorado."

• Implication of illnesses in California on August 4, "We have firmly implicated shell eggs as the source in two outbreaks and traceback of shell eggs in our most recent outbreak appears to match egg traceback California has conducted."

• A description of the four restaurant clusters in Minnesota sharing the outbreak strain.

Obviously, we are in the dark (perhaps less so that others) on the particulars at this point, but the first mention of a national outbreak and recall to the public was August 15 (we heard rumblings a few days before that). So, what happened between August 6, or earlier, and August 15? 

According to press reports, late yesterday afternoon a federal judge recommended approval of a $12 million settlement for those sickened or killed in last year's salmonella outbreak tied to a Virginia-based peanut processor.  This includes nearly 50 families represented by Marler Clark.  

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski issued his recommendation late Wednesday for the payments for the more than 120 personal injury claims related to the outbreak. The settlement must now be approved by a bankruptcy court judge.  The outbreak traced to Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America's plants in Georgia and Texas was linked to the illnesses of about 700 people and the deaths of at least nine.  Peanut Corp. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to dissolve amid fallout from the outbreak.  The money provided by the company's insurers will be distributed based on the extent of victims' illnesses.

The settlements reached involved only 125 or of the 714 culture-confirmed cases. It did include all nine of the death claims. Frankly, I am not sure where the near 600 others went. That would be interesting study to see why they did not come forward. The awards to the 125 were partially funded by PCA’s 12M and partially by Kellogg. The amounts on all the claims were based upon prior verdicts and settlements in Salmonella cases with a view to the law of where the claimant resided (some states allow compensation for one thing, but not another). I thought the awards were fair.

And, Stewart Parnell is still not in Jail.

It has been a busy morning in the food safety business.  I was supposed to do a live interview via TV on CNN, but missed the 5:25 ferry to Seattle (it is actually at 5:20).  Thankfully, they let me do a phone in.  I am now off to San Francisco to visit with the Rivera family.  Linda, you might recall, has been hospitalized since May 2009 with E. coli O157:H7 complications.  In between I had the chance to finalize our third Salmonella Egg Complaint and request of Wright Egg lawyers that they allow us entry into the suspect facility.  Hopefully, it will not require an Order from the Court.

Honestly, I am not sure what I would do (or what the public does) without the solid research by Ms. Entis (efoodalert) on her famous “Recall Round-ups” and setting out the scope of this Salmonella Enteriditis outbreak. It is good to know where the eggs are poisoned and the people are sick. Here is Phyllis’s list of states reporting ill peoplet:  Alaska, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota and Texas.

I would add in Wisconsin (Baker Street Deli) and North Carolina (Bullock’s Restaurant).

I expect that list to grow over the next weeks as the CDC provides additional information on where the near 1,300 Salmonella Enteriditis cases are located. 

With 550,000,000 eggs being recalled from 18 states and the number of ill flirting with 2,000, we understandably are not only focusing on the "how did it happen?" but, also "how this could have been prevented?"

State Ag and Federal (USDA/FSIS and FDA) authorities seem to be going out of their way to let us know that no one was inspecting the "hen houses" linked to this recall and outbreak - or any other hen houses for that matter.  We are being assured that if the "Egg Rule" (which was debated for decades) had been in place in May (when the outbreak began) and not July (when the outbreak was nearly over) this whole mess would not have occurred.  Really?  Here is a summary of the Rule:

• Buy chicks and young hens only from suppliers who monitor for Salmonella bacteria

• Establish rodent, pest control, and biosecurity measures to prevent spread of bacteria throughout the farm by people and equipment

• Conduct testing in the poultry house for Salmonella Enteritidis. If the tests find the bacterium, a representative sample of the eggs must be tested over an eight-week time period (four tests at two-week intervals); if any of the four egg tests is positive, the producer must further process the eggs to destroy the bacteria, or divert the eggs to a non-food use

• Clean and disinfect poultry houses that have tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis

• Refrigerate eggs at 45 degrees F during storage and transportation no later than 36 hours after the eggs are laid (this requirement also applies to egg producers whose eggs receive a treatment, such as pasteurization).

• Environmental Testing for SE. There are specific requirements on when and how to test for SE and coordination with pullet testing.

• Egg Testing for SE. Whenever you have reason to know/suspect of presence of SE. Two week intervals in positive poultry houses.

It seems to me that the above are both common sense and minimum requirements for producing eggs - especially when you are producing them from millions of chickens for the consuming public..  Furthermore, how is the FDA going to inspect these plants when it does not now have the manpower to inspect the thousands of other food manufacturing plants it is supposed to inspect now?

Perhaps looking back across "the pond" might give us a way out of this scramble.

In May 2010, CDC identified a nationwide increase in the number of Salmonella Enteritidis isolates with PFGE pattern JEGX01.0004 uploaded to PulseNet, the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories that performs molecular surveillance of foodborne infections. This increase is evident in the epidemic curve, or epi curve. During May 1 to July 31, 2010, a total of 1,953 illnesses were reported. However, some of these cases may not be related to this outbreak. Based on the previous 5 years of reports to PulseNet, we would expect approximately 700 illnesses during this same period. Many states have reported increases of this pattern since May. Because of the large number of expected cases during this period, standard methods of molecular subtyping alone are not sufficient to determine which reported cases might be outbreak-associated. CDC is currently conducting testing using advanced molecular methodologies to help distinguish between outbreak-related cases and sporadic (or background) cases.

Illnesses that occurred after July 17, 2010 might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks for Salmonella. For more details, please see the Salmonella Outbreak Investigations: Timeline for Reporting Cases.

See full report - Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Enteritidis Infections Associated with Shell Eggs

Yesterday I was speaking with David Hendee of the Omaha World-Herald (along with Larry King, FOX, LA Times, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, KABC, etc.) about the “Eggbarrassment” to the egg industry and to the government for the latest of what seems like a constant stream of foodborne illnesses and food recalls. As I said to David:

The awareness that a half-billion suspect eggs have been circulating in the food supply is an embarrassment not only for the egg industry but for federal regulators, said Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who has filed suit alleging illness from tainted eggs at a Wisconsin restaurant. He said he has been retained by two dozen families and was representing a woman hospitalized in California.

“The question is ‘Who was inspecting the plants, if anybody?’” Marler said Monday to The World-Herald. “An outbreak with 550 million bad eggs and 1,300 sickened people has been going on for a while. I suspect nobody was inspecting.’’

Marler said the episode raises many questions about food safety roles played by the FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. The FDA inspects shell eggs and the USDA inspects processed eggs.

Marler questioned if that “joint jurisdiction’’ is the best way of assuring the public that eggs will be safer. “If the farms followed the rule, where was the error made? Or is there something wrong with the rule? Tell me what they weren’t doing.”

Yesterday, I suggested that Congress hold hearings on why this outbreak, that began in May, seemed to go unnoticed until mid-August. It seems that at least Congressmembers, Waxman, DeLauro and Stupak are on task asking for documents from Wright County Egg and demanding an explanation of who was inspecting the plant – USDA/FSIS or FDA – or neither? And, they want to know how this outbreak happened? I know I am just a lawyer, but here generally are the issues I would focus on:

I am not sure this is something that CNBC does often, and I am not sure how I feel about it.

"A strong democratic Iraq will bring stability to the Middle East, and if we see Iraq that's moving toward that, two, three, five years from now, I think we can call our operations a success." — Gen. Ray Odierno in a TV interview saying it may take several years before America can determine if the war in Iraq was a success.

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"The history of ignoring the law makes the sickening of 1,300 and the forced recall of 550 million eggs shockingly understandable. You have to wonder where the USDA and FDA inspectors were." — Attorney William D. Marler in an e-mail to The Associated Press after an egg industry spokeswoman said the two Iowa farms that recalled more than a half-billion eggs linked to as many as 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning share suppliers of chickens and feed as well as ties to an Iowa business routinely cited for violating state and federal law.

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"The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship." — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the inauguration ceremony of the Iran's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft.

MARY CLARE JALONICK, of AP, (A.K.A., “the egg gal,”) confirmed this morning what everyone speculated, that “both farms (Hillandale and Wright County Egg) are linked to businessman Austin "Jack" DeCoster, who has been cited for numerous health, safety and employment violations over the years.” She goes further:

DeCoster owns Wright County Egg, the original farm that recalled 380 million eggs Aug. 13 after they were linked to more than 1,000 reported cases of salmonella poisoning. Another of his companies, Quality Egg supplies young chickens and feed to both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, the second farm that recalled another 170 million eggs a week later.

Her other story, “Farms recalling eggs share suppliers, other ties,” just hit the wire. Here is an interesting perspective (if I do not say so myself):

The salmonella outbreak has raised questions about federal inspections of egg farms. The FDA oversees inspections of shell eggs, while the Agriculture Department is in charge of inspecting other egg products.

William D. Marler, a Seattle attorney for a person who filed suit alleging illness from tainted eggs in a salad at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wis., said Sunday his firm has been retained by two-dozen families and was representing a woman who was hospitalized in California.

"The history of ignoring the law makes the sickening of 1,300 and the forced recall of 550 million eggs shockingly understandable," Marler said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "You have to wonder where the USDA and FDA inspectors were."

As Ms. Jalonick documents, DeCoster is no stranger to controversy in his food and farm operations:

Illnesses in at least seven additional people in Minnesota have been connected with an expanded multi-state recall of eggs from an Iowa producer due to contamination with Salmonella. This brings the total number of cases in Minnesota linked to the recall to 14. The additional Salmonella Enteriditis cases were identified as part of a restaurant outbreak in Bemidji, Minnesota in May. Shell eggs were identified as the likely source of this outbreak and were traced back by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and FDA to Hillandale Farms of New Hampton, Iowa. Eggs from Hillandale Farms have now been included in an expanded egg recall that also includes Wright County Egg.

Recall Facts:

In the middle of yet another massive recall and illness outbreak - 550,000,000 eggs being recalled - with millions being spent on recall costs or millions be lost in sales - Mr. President, Senator Reid, please do not forget one other reason to pass this Bill.

The New York Times William Neuman just reported that:

Hillandale Farms of Iowa, issued a recall Friday of 170 million eggs that it sent to 14 states.  The company said “laboratory-confirmed illnesses” had been associated with the eggs, and federal officials said the illnesses were part of a large outbreak of salmonella that has sickened hundreds of people across the country since May.

Hillandale Farms of Iowa said it was recalling eggs from its two plants in Iowa, distributed under the brand names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms and Sunny Meadow. Eggs produced by Hillandale outside of Iowa were unaffected by the recall.

The company said the recalled eggs were sold in Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

This is in addition to 380,000,000 eggs recalled earlier this week by Wright County Egg. CDC has linked over 1,200 illnesses to one or both of these recalls.

(FDA Press Release) Hillandale Farms of Iowa is voluntarily recalling shell eggs because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.  Eggs affected by this recall were distributed to grocery distribution centers, retail grocery stores and foodservice companies which service or are located in fourteen states, including the following: Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

There have been laboratory-confirmed Salmonella enteritidis illnesses associated with the shell eggs; the investigation is ongoing.  Minnesota Department of Health seems to indicate that some of its 14 ill are related to Hillandale.

Eggs are distributed under the following brand names: Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, and Sunny Meadow in 6-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons, 30-egg package, and 5-dozen cases. Loose eggs are packaged under the following brand names: Wholesome Farms and West Creek in 15 and 30-dozen tray packs. The loose eggs may also be repackaged by customers.  The only eggs effected by this recall have plant numbers P1860 or P1663 and Julian dates as follows:

* P1860 – Julian dates ranging from 099 to 230 = April 9 to August 18

* P1663 – Julian dates ranging from 137 to 230 = May 17 to August 18

Note - NO mention on the amount of eggs.  

However, William Neuman of the New York Times wrote that “Hillandale’s announcement did not say how many eggs were involved. But Cal-Maine Foods, an egg producer and distributor, said that it had received about 9.6 million of the recalled eggs.”  Phil Brasher just confirmed that “[t]he Hillandale sites, one at Alden and the other at West Union, share the same source of hens as the DeCoster farms, according to sources familiar with the operations who spoke on condition of anonymity.”

Sorry, the old Beatle’s song keeps running through my head.  And, with 380,000,000 eggs being recalled, and well over 1,000 people sick (and rising), I really should not be making jokes.

Not surprisingly I usually start my morning reading Phil Brasher in the Des Moines Register. I was struck by his article this morning, “New rules could have prevented salmonella outbreak,” and this quote:

"There are preventive measures that would have been in place that could have prevented this, if it (the new regulatory program) had been in place earlier than in July," said Sherri McGarry of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

I then picked up my well-read “Egg Rule” also known as “Federal Register Final Rule (July 9, 2009, 74 FR 33030): Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs During Production, Storage, and Transportation,” for what exactly the rule now requires. Here are the highlights:

• Buy chicks and young hens only from suppliers who monitor for Salmonella bacteria

• Establish rodent, pest control, and biosecurity measures to prevent spread of bacteria throughout the farm by people and equipment

• Conduct testing in the poultry house for Salmonella Enteritidis. If the tests find the bacterium, a representative sample of the eggs must be tested over an eight-week time period (four tests at two-week intervals); if any of the four egg tests is positive, the producer must further process the eggs to destroy the bacteria, or divert the eggs to a non-food use

• Clean and disinfect poultry houses that have tested positive for Salmonella Enteritidis

• Refrigerate eggs at 45 degrees F during storage and transportation no later than 36 hours after the eggs are laid (this requirement also applies to egg producers whose eggs receive a treatment, such as pasteurization).

• Environmenal Testing for SE.  There are specific requirements on when and how to test for SE and coordination with pullet testing.

• Egg Testing for SE.  Whenever you have reason to know/suspect of presence of SE. Two week intervals in positive poultry houses.

OK, I know the Egg Rule did not go into final until July 2010, but really, can anyone argue that the highlights above should not have been voluntarily implemented before that?  "I am the Egg [Rule}..."

Someone emailed me this photo.  Seems to sum up my week.

Recall information:

U.S. Marshals, acting under a court order sought by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, today seized packaged food products from a rodent-infested warehouse in Athens, Ga. A variety of products, including crackers, cookies and potato chips, were intended for sale to jails and prisons throughout the southeastern United States.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia issued a warrant for the seizure of all of the food in the warehouse from Mid-States Services Inc., that the FDA and the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) determined to be susceptible to contamination by rodents.

Investigators found 14 live rodents, seven dead rodents, 23 gnaw holes on multiple food containers, multiple containers of food containing rodent pellets, four rodent nests, and apparent rodent pellets too numerous to count, on and around food packages, as well as finding structural defects making the facilities accessible to rodents.

AP reports a moment ago that "[h}undreds of people have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak linked to eggs in three states and possibly more, and health officials on Wednesday dramatically expanded a recall to 380 million eggs."  Goodness!

Earlier today I was reading Philip Brasher’s Blog (yes, in part because he mentioned me and our lawsuit against Wright County Egg) and was somewhat shocked that Wright County Egg is “[a] livestock industry giant with a long history of immigration and environmental problems is now connected to a nationwide recall of eggs that the government blames for an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.” Ouch! Mr. Brasher went further:

The elder DeCoster, a Maine native who set up business in Wright County in the 1980s, pleaded guilty to federal immigration charges in 2003 and paid a record $2.1 million in penalties. In 2001, the state Supreme Court ruled that DeCoster, a repeat violator of state environmental laws, could finance, but not build, hog confinement operations for his son. Earlier this year, the elder DeCoster paid a fine to settle animal state cruelty charges against his egg operations in Maine.

Ouch! Again.

California has been at 266, Minnesota at 7, Nevada at 30 and according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State health officials today confirmed a Salmonella outbreak that sickened 21 diners at a Kenosha restaurant in June to the nationwide recall of 228 million eggs (now increased to 380 million eggs) by an Iowa producer.

Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, on Friday issued another voluntary nationwide recall of eggs it had shipped since May 19 to food wholesalers, distribution centers and foodservice companies in California, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Those companies distribute nationwide, reselling eggs under various brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

The affected cartons - which still may be in stores, restaurants and homes - come in varying sizes and carry plant numbers P1026, P1413 and P1946, followed by a date code ranging from 136 to 225. The stamps with the date codes and plant numbers can be found on the end of the egg carton.

According to press reports, contaminated pickles have been linked by the Cook County Illinois Department of Public Health to an outbreak of Salmonella poisoning (no serotype announced).

According to public health officials, six confirmed cases of Salmonella have been linked to pickles purchased from the Assi Market in the Chicago suburb of Niles. Five people have been hospitalized.

Health department officials say all confirmed victims of salmonella poisoning reported eating pickles made at the market and sold in plastic bags between July 25 and July 27, with an Aug. 24 sell-by date.

Wright County Egg Recall Tied to Salmonella Illnesses Nationwide

An outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wisconsin has been linked to the recall of 280,000,000 eggs and nearly 300 illnesses in the rapidly widening nationwide outbreak tied to Wright County Egg company. A lawsuit originally filed against the restaurant was filed in amended form to include Wright County Egg in the Kenosha County Branch of the Wisconsin District Court by Seattle-based food safety law firm Marler Clark.

The plaintiff ate a cobb salad containing eggs at the Baker Street Restaurant and Pub in July. Her ensuing illness required her to go to the hospital, where it was determined that she was infected with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE). At the time, the outbreak seemed to be confined to the restaurant, but now that the strain of SE associated with the contaminated eggs has been genetically “fingerprinted”, the Wisconsin outbreak is part of a much larger nationwide outbreak.

Wright County Egg issued a voluntary recall of shell eggs distributed nationwide when the product was linked to SE illnesses. Minnesota has reported 7 ill, and California announced 266 illnesses associated with the outbreak. This confirms CDC revelations that they have seen four times as many SE illnesses than usual reported each week for several months.

In the last three months we have been tracking more than a few Salmonella outbreaks, like S. Typhi in mamey pulp, S. Hartford and S. Baildon at Taco Bell, S, Arizonae in rattlesnake cakes, and on and on. We have also seen more than a few S. Enteritidis cases, but as it is one of the most common serotypes, it had been difficult to see a common denominator.

Well, that was until the CDC (and Minnesota separately) announced yesterday that In May 2010, it had identified a nationwide increase in the number of Salmonella Enteritidis isolates with PFGE pattern JEGXX01.0004 uploaded to PulseNet. The CDC pointed to the fact that this increase represented approximately a four-fold increase over the expected number of reported isolates of this particular PFGE pattern. Approximately 200 isolates were uploaded to PulseNet on a weekly basis during late June and early July compared to an expected 50 uploads a week on average during this same period in the previous 5 years.

Also, according to the CDC, for every one person who is a stool-culture confirmed positive victim of salmonella in the United States, there a multiple of 38.5 who are also sick, but remain uncounted. (See, AC Voetsch, “FoodNet estimate of the burden of illness caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella infections in the United States,” Clinical Infectious Diseases 2004; 38 (Suppl 3): S127-34).

This means that in this Wright County Egg Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak, even if you focus on just the months of “late June and early July” (approximately four weeks at an increase of 150 illnesses a week equaling 600 per month more than expected - this number is bound to rise), we have been experiencing 23,100 illnesses thus far.

Thanks to Alejandro Pérez, MPH and the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for this great PowerPoint on Salmonella Enteritidis and Eggs in America.

Salmonella is one of the most common enteric (intestinal) infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common foodborne illness after Campylobacter infection. It is estimated that 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur each year in the U.S.; 95% of those cases are foodborne-related. Approximately 220 of each 1000 cases result in hospitalization and eight of every 1000 cases result in death. About 500 to 1,000 or 31% of all food-related deaths are caused by Salmonella infections each year. Salmonellosis is more common in the warmer months of the year.

Salmonella infection occurs when the bacteria are ingested, typically from food derived from infected food-animals, but it can also occur by ingesting the feces of an infected animal or person. Food sources include raw or undercooked eggs/egg products, raw milk or raw milk products, contaminated water, meat and meat products, and poultry. Raw fruits and vegetables contaminated during slicing have been implicated in several foodborne outbreaks.

Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and Wisconsin Lead the Illness Count

An Ohio victim of the Salmonella outbreaks linked to Taco Bell will file a food poisoning lawsuit in the Court of Common Pleas of Scioto County, Ohio today. The lawsuit will be filed against the food chain parent company Yum! Brands on behalf of a Scioto county resident by the food safety law firm Marler Clark and by Fred Wendel of the Columbus firm Stewart & DeChant.

Two parallel outbreaks of Salmonella have been identified by Centers for Disease Control (CDC), both linked to the Taco Bell restaurant chain. Salmonella Hartford and Salmonella Baildon—the two outbreak strains—are rare and strong, sickening at least 155 people in 21 states and sending more than 30% of the ill to the hospital. More than 60% of the victims reported eating at Taco Bell.

Tammy Hale purchased food from a Taco Bell in Wheelersburg at the beginning of June. The next day she began to experience gastrointestinal symptoms, which worsened over the next several days until she had to be hospitalized. During her four-day hospitalization, tests revealed that she had been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Hartford. She is still recovering from her illness.

Eggs produced by the farms of Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, have been recalled because of potential salmonella contamination. Eggs affected by the recall were distributed in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and other states. The eggs are packaged under these brand names in varying carton sizes: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

Eggs are packaged under the following brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps. Eggs are packed in varying sizes of cartons (6-egg cartons, dozen egg cartons, 18-egg cartons) with Julian dates ranging from 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413 and 1946. Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with the letter P and then the number. The Julian date follows the plant number, for example: P-1946 223.

There have been confirmed Salmonella enteritidis illnesses relating to the shell eggs and traceback investigations are ongoing.

Veron Foods, LLC of Prairieville, La. is recalling approximately 500,000 pounds of “ready to eat” sausage and hog head cheese products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry’s Office of Animal Health and Food Safety announced today.

The following products are subject to recall:

All packages of Veron Hot Smoked Sausage, Veron Mild Smoked Sausage, Martin Hot Smoked Sausage, Martin Mild Smoked Sausage, Veron Andouille Sausage, Martin Andouille Sausage and Veron Hog Head Cheese. 

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) is investigating a third case of acute hepatitis A. All three are residents of Waldo County and at least one attended a number of social functions in different areas of Maine while infective which included attendees from across the state. We therefore believe other people may be at risk for contracting the illness and may be showing signs and symptoms of it in the coming days and weeks.

No Change in Agency for Regulated Foods

Only foods already regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be subject to S. 510. Section 403 maintains the existing firewall between FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulated foods and agricultural products.

No Change in Definition of Facility

The following is a comprehensive description of the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), its symptoms, and the complications and long-term risks associated with HUS.  (A glossary of terms can be found at the bottom of this entry).

Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a severe, life-threatening complication of an E. coli bacterial infection that was first described in 1955, and is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in childhood. E. coli O157:H7 is responsible for over 90% of the cases of HUS that develop in North America. In fact, some researchers now believe that E. coli O157:H7 is the only cause of HUS in children. HUS develops when the toxin from E. coli bacteria, known as Shiga-like toxin (SLT) [1,2], enters cells lining the large intestine. The Shiga-toxin triggers a complex cascade of changes in the blood. Cellular debris accumulates within the body’s tiny blood vessels and there is a disruption of the inherent clot-breaking mechanisms. The formation of micro-clots in the blood vessel-rich kidneys leads to impaired kidney function and can cause damage to other major organs.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today issued the following statement on the manager’s package for The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. Harkin has been working on a bipartisan basis with HELP Committee Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY), authors of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) and lead cosponsors Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Burr (R-NC) on the proposal.

The full manager’s package (over 200 pages) is available here - S. 510 - FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.

“For far too long, the headlines have told the story of why this measure is so urgently needed: foodborne illness outbreaks, product recalls and Americans sickened over the food they eat. This 100-year-old plus food safety structure needed to be modernized,” said Harkin.

“I am pleased that after a great deal of time and effort from members on both sides of the aisle, we have a strong, bipartisan proposal that will overhaul our current food safety system – a system that right now fails far too many American consumers. I am confident that the remaining details will be worked out and am hopeful that the measure will come to the Senate floor as soon as possible.”

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act passed the HELP Committee without a single dissenting vote on November 18, 2009. The bill is supported by dozens of industry and consumer organizations including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Consumer Federation of America, the Grocery Manufacturers of America, the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Restaurant Association and the Trust for America’s Health.

Highlights of the manager’s package include: 

Hazard analysis and preventive controls: Requires facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food to have in place risk-based preventive control plans to address identified hazards and prevent adulteration, and gives FDA access to these plans and relevant documentation. These requirements do not apply to restaurants or most farms.

Imports: Requires importers to verify the safety of foreign suppliers and imported food. Allows FDA to require certification for high-risk foods, and to deny entry to a food that lacks certification or that is from a foreign facility that has refused U.S. inspectors. Creates a voluntary qualified importer program in which importers with a certification of safety for their foreign supplier can pay a user-free for expedited entry into the U.S.

Inspection: Gives FDA additional resources to hire new inspectors and requires FDA to inspect food facilities more frequently.

Mandatory Recall Authority: Gives FDA the authority to order a mandatory recall of a food product if the food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death and a company has failed to voluntarily recall the product upon FDA’s request.

Regulatory Balance: Achieves new requirements without being excessively burdensome. The legislation provides training for facilities to come into compliance with new safety requirements and includes special accommodations for small businesses and farms. It does not interfere with current organic farming practices and does not change the current definition of farm under the 2002 Bioterrorism Act. Any farm that is not currently required to register with FDA will not be required to do so under this legislation.

Surveillance: Enhances surveillance systems to detect food-borne illnesses.

Traceback: Requires FDA to establish a pilot project to test and evaluate new methods for rapidly tracking foods in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak.

Increased FDA Resources: Increases funding for FDA’s food safety activities through increased appropriations and targeted fees for food facility reinspection, food recalls, and the voluntary qualified importer program.

Well, I have a lot of reading to do tonight.

It seems that there are more recalls and outbreaks than ever, touching every community. As time and resources are short, I wanted to make you aware of new and retooled resources on food safety, foodborne illness, and food policy.

Marlerblog:  Is my view as a food safety insider and litigator. I use my extensive contacts to publish ahead-of-the-news-cycle reports on foodborne illness outbreaks and recalls as well as the constantly shifting sands of food policy, regulation, and legislation. Marlerblog is considered one of the best sources of food safety information on the web, consistently breaking news and naming sources of outbreaks before the official press releases. Marlerblog is available by email, RSS, Twitter and Facebook (Marler Clark Blog)

Outbreak Database: A free, online, comprehensive database of foodborne illness outbreaks in the US. Search by pathogen, vehicle, keyword, date, and/or state. Is there an outbreak of E. coli in lettuce in your area? Find out about the previous outbreaks are in an instant. Last time tomatoes and Salmonella were linked? Click. Outbreaks related to raw milk? Click.

Food Safety News;  This online newspaper is sponsored by my firm, Marler Clark, but run by four full time reporters and staff. It has a devoted readership for its in-depth explorations of food safety issues, with reporting from Washington, Denver, Seattle and around the country – inside the beltway, and inside the “belt” way. Again, available by RSS, email, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

A recently published study surveyed the extant scientific literature and noted that post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) is a common clinical phenomenon first described over five decades ago. The Walkerton Health Study further notes that:

Between 5% and 30% of patients who suffer an acute episode of infectious gastroenteritis develop chronic gastrointestinal symptoms despite clearance of the inciting pathogens.

In terms of its own data, the “study confirm[ed] a strong and significant relationship between acute enteric infection and subsequent IBS symptoms.” The WHS also identified risk factors for subsequent IBS, including: younger age; female sex; and four features of the acute enteric illness—diarrhea for > 7days, presence of blood in stools, abdominal cramps, and weight loss of at least ten pounds. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic disorder characterized by alternating bouts of constipation and diarrhea, both of which are generally accompanied by abdominal cramping and pain. In one recent study, over one-third of IBS sufferers had had IBS for more than ten years, with their symptoms remaining fairly constant over time. IBS sufferers typically experienced symptoms for an average of 8.1 days per month.

As would be expected from a chronic disorder, IBS sufferers required more time off work, spent more days in bed, and more often cut down on usual activities, when compared with non-IBS sufferers. And even when able to work, a significant majority (67%), felt less productive at work because of their symptoms. IBS symptoms also have a significantly deleterious impact on social well-being and daily social activities, such as undertaking a long drive, going to a restaurant, or taking a vacation. Finally, while a patient’s psychological state may influence the way in which he or she copes with illness, and responds to treatment, there is no evidence that supports the theory that psychological disturbances in facts cause IBS or its symptoms.

Reiter’s Syndrome

Crack Defense Lawyer, Alan Maxwell, and I will be co-chairing again this conference on “Advanced Strategies for Tackling the Underlying Science and Defending Against Complex Food Contamination Claims.” The two-day conference will be on Wednesday, October 27 to Thursday, October 28, 2010 at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. On the registration website ACI warns:

… many experts within the industry are predicting that food-borne illness will soon become the #1 cause of litigation facing the food industry…. In an environment such as this, your client cannot afford to be caught unprepared. Now is the time for food companies, and the lawyers who advise them, to get updated on:

• What new pathogens are infecting our food supply – and how to best trace and isolate them in the context of a food contamination incident

• How to maintain control of the corporate message and the media while preserving your relationship and reputation with the consumer and corporate stakeholders

• Selecting the best scientific/medical expert for your case – what to look for in a consulting vs. testifying expert

• The investigative priorities of government regulators – and how they will impact litigation going forward

Are you armed with your best strategies to face this rising tide of litigation?

Although everyone needs a defense, my pitch at the conference to the companies would be to focus on food safety and not poison their customers in the first place - but, that is just me.

Over the last months we have been following the in and out of state raw milk regulations.  I thought I would share the thirteen pages as a link here - Survey of State Raw Milk Product Regulations.  I would appreciate any comments or corrections.

So far since January there have been 15 recalls and/or outbreaks involving raw milk products sickening 101 people.  There have also been 3 recalls and/or outbreaks involving pasteurized milk Queso fresco cheese sickening 5.  Download full chart with references.

I have the privilege to speak before the Annual Meeting of PulseNet in Chicago in a few weeks. As some may know, PulseNet is a national network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The network consists of: state health departments, local health departments, and federal agencies (CDC, USDA/FSIS, FDA).

PulseNet participants perform standardized molecular subtyping (or “fingerprinting”) of foodborne disease-causing bacteria by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). PFGE can be used to distinguish strains of organisms such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, or Campylobacter at the DNA level. DNA “fingerprints,” or patterns, are submitted electronically to a dynamic database at the CDC. These databases are available on-demand to participants—this allows for rapid comparison of the patterns.

Its Objectives are:

• Detect foodborne disease case clusters by PFGE
• Allow for real-time communication among state, local health departments, and international partners
• Facilitate early identification of common source outbreaks
• Help food regulatory agencies identify areas where implementation of new measures are likely to increase the safety of our food supply

After nearly 3,000 blog post and over 2,500,000 visitors (most since the Fall of 2006), I decided a redesign of the blog was in order. Although we are still working out a few “bugs,” the look you see here is the near final product. Hopefully, you will find the resources helpful and the commentary, well, at least tolerable.

Which brings me to why do I spend so much time on this blog, Food Safety News and all the other “bug” blogs. I think I summed it up best in Testimony I gave in 2008 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee:

Since 1993, I have had the privilege to represent thousands of Americans - some your constituents. In 2002, during the middle of yet another E. coli outbreak, during the middle of another visit to an ICU to watch a new client struggle for life attached to more tubes than you can imagine, I penned an Op-ed for the Denver Post. Here is part of it:

This summer, scores of Americans, most of them small children or senior citizens, have already or will become deathly ill after eating ground beef boldly labeled "USDA approved." The now infamous outbreak started with a few sick kids in Colorado and quickly spread coast-to-coast, eventually triggering the recall of 19 million pounds of ground beef tainted with E. coli O157:H7.

Because their parents trusted our government's food inspections, several kids suffered kidney failure and spent days or weeks hooked up to kidney dialysis machines. For some, the long-term prognosis is grim, with the risk of further kidney failure, dialysis, transplants or worse.... Most of those kids' parents have hired me to help them get compensation for hundreds of thousands in medical costs and the risks of future kidney failure. This may prompt some readers to consider me a blood-sucking ambulance chaser that exploits other people’s personal tragedies.

If that is the case, here is my plea: Put me out of business. Please.

For this trial lawyer, E. coli has been a far too successful practice - and a heart-breaking one. I am tired of visiting with horribly sick kids who did not have to be sick in the first place. I am outraged with a food industry that allows E. coli and other poisons to reach consumers, and a President, Congress and federal regulatory system that do nothing about it. Stop making kids sick - and I will happily move on.

Botulism is a rare, life-threatening paralytic illness caused by neurotoxins produced by an anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. Unlike Clostridium perfringens, which requires the ingestion of large numbers of viable cells to cause symptoms, the symptoms of botulism are caused by the ingestion of highly toxic, soluble exotoxins produced by C. botulinum while growing in foods.

Overview

These rod-shaped bacteria grow best under anaerobic (or, low oxygen), low-salt, and low-acid conditions. Bacterial growth is inhibited by refrigeration below 4° C., heating above 121° C, and high water-activity or acidity. And although the toxin is destroyed by heating to 85° C. for at least five minutes, the spores formed by the bacteria are not inactivated unless the food is heated under high pressure to 121° C. for at least twenty minutes.

The incidence of foodborne botulism is extremely low. Nonetheless, the extreme danger posed by the bacteria has required that “intensive surveillance is maintained for botulism cases in the United States, and every case is treated as a public health emergency.” This danger includes a mortality rate of up to 65% when victims are not treated immediately and properly. Most of the botulism events that are reported annually in the United States are associated with home-canned foods that have not been safely processed. Very occasionally, however, commercially- processed foods are implicated as the source of a botulism events, including sausages, beef stew, canned vegetables, and seafood products.

Customers of two Grand Lake Colorado restaurants are being urged to get either immune globulin (IG) or hepatitis A shots following the discovery that a worker employed at both eateries has a case of hepatitis A. The two restaurants were identified as Sagebrush BBQ & Grill and Max & T's Bar and Grill by the Grand County Public Health department. The health department said there are no other confirmed cases of hepatitis A at this time.

People should get the hepatitis A shots if they ate at Max & T's between July 26 and July 30, or the Sagebrush between July 24 and Aug. 3. The patrons should receive the shots within 14 days from the date they ate at the restaurants.

Hepatitis A virus is spread as a result of fecal contamination. It may be spread from person to person through close contact or through food handling.

Valley Meat Company, a Modesto, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately one million pounds of frozen ground beef patties and bulk ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced this morning.

The products subject to recall bear the establishment number "EST. 8268" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a production code of 25709 through 01210. These products were produced between the dates of Oct. 2, 2009 through Jan. 12, 2010 and were distributed to retail outlets and institutional foodservice providers in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and internationally.

FSIS became aware of the problem on July 15 when the agency was notified by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) of a small E. coli O157:H7 cluster of illnesses with a rare strain as determined by PFGE subtyping. A total of six patients with illness onset dates between April 8 and June 18, 2010 were reported at that time. After further review, CDPH added another patient from February to the case count, bringing the count to seven. FSIS is continuing to work with the CDPH and the company on the investigation. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should contact a health care provider.

The following products are subject to recall:

OK, I finally gave in to the social media thing.  I have been tweeting for several months now, but my three daughters kept bugging me about joining Facebook.  So, here it goes.

I have set up both a personal page (so I can find you and you can find me) and a “fan” page. Rather than try upkeep on both, I’ll be spending my time over on my blog page, which is Marler Clark Blog.  When you’re in Facebook, just search for Marler Clark Blog, and the page will show up.  (Once I have a few fans there, I can personalize a URL and make it a little easier to navigate to…or so I’m told.)

So as much as I resist writing this sentence, please visit the Marler Clark blog page and “like” me.

The CDC is collaborating with public health officials in multiple states, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) to investigate two multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections, each involving a different Salmonella serotype: Hartford and Baildon. Both of these Salmonella serotypes are rare, and ill persons in both outbreaks have a similar age and geographic distribution.

An analysis indicates that eating at a Mexican-style fast food restaurant chain, Restaurant Chain A, is associated with some illnesses. Among persons eating at Restaurant Chain A, no specific food item or ingredient was found to be associated with illness for either outbreak.

An extensive traceback effort was initiated to determine if a common source or supplier could be identified to help focus the epidemiologic investigations. No common food source was identified in either traceback.

Salmonella Hartford Outbreak Investigation

As of 9:00 PM EDT on August 1, 2010, a total of 75 individuals infected with a matching strain of Salmonella Hartford have been reported from 15 states since April 1, 2010. The number of ill people identified in each state with this strain is as follows: CO (1), GA (1), IL (5), IN (11), KY (23), MA (2), MI (3), MT (1), NC (1), NH (1), NY (1), OH (19), PA (1), SC (1) and WI (4). Among those for whom information is available about when symptoms started, illnesses began between April 30, 2010 and July 18, 2010. Case-patients range in age from <1 to 80 years old, and the median age is 39 years. Fifty-seven percent of patients are female. Among the 47 patients with available hospitalization information, 15 (32 %) were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

Salmonella Baildon Outbreak Investigation

As of 9:00 PM EDT on August 1, 2010, a total of 80 individuals infected with a matching strain of Salmonella Baildon have been reported from 15 states since May 1, 2010. The number of ill people identified in each state with this strain is as follows: CT (1), GA (1), IA (1), IL (20), IN (4), KY (5), MA (1), MI (4), MN (5), NJ (6), NY (2), OH (6), OR (1), WA (1) and WI (22). Among those for whom information is available about when symptoms started, illnesses began between May 11, 2010 and July 19, 2010. Case-patients range in age from 1 to 82 years old, and the median age is 47 years. Seventy-four percent of patients are female. Among the 68 patients with available hospitalization information, 27 (40 %) were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

And, the name of the Mexican Chain Restaurant is?  Taco Bell perhaps?

It has been a bit of a quiet summer when it comes to food poisoning outbreaks – that is a good thing - but not so in Colorado.

Just a few moments ago, the Colorado Health Department announced that more than two-dozen people who ate at The Fort in Morrison last month got sick. Officials believe undercooking eggs caused it - in particular for one specialty of the house. One of the signature dishes is rattlesnake cake. This year between July 10 and July 16 more than two-dozen people became ill at The Fort, quite possibly from the egg ingredients in the rattlesnake dish. So far there are eight confirmed cases of Salmonella and 20 listed as probable.

In July Boulder County Department of Health announced that two children had been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome after becoming ill from drinking unpasteurized goat milk in June that came from Billy Goat Dairy in Longmont. Lab tests confirmed that raw milk from the Billy Goat Dairy farm was contaminated with Campylobacter and farm goat feces carried E. coli O157:H7. Thus far 30 people have been sickened out of the 40 families that participated in the goat share program.

Also in July, Rocky Mountain Natural Meats recalled 66,000 pounds of bison and buffalo meat after a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Colorado were linked to the product. Health authorities identified 5 illnesses in Colorado and one illness in New York in people who consumed the product.

Cleary, Colorado has more than Coors and the Rocky Mountains.

Had a nice chat this AM with Mr. Hirsch with Crop to Cuisine - Yes, it was about raw milk. Click on Sound Bites August 2, 2010.

I am proud to once again be one of the prime sponsors of the China International Food Safety & Quality Conference + Expo (CIFSQ) which “aims to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and collaboration amongst all global stakeholders” in food safety. As Vice Premier Li Keqiang, Head of the National Food Safety Commission, State Council, P.R.C said:

“Food is essential, and safety should be a top priority. Food safety is closely related to people’s lives and health, economic development and social harmony. We must create a food safety system of self-disciplined food companies with integrity, effective government supervision and broad public support, to improve overall food safety."

I could not agree more. See you in Shanghai.