Marler Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : Bill Marler : Marler Clark

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 September. She has been at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester ever since.

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Late last night Christopher Doering of Reuters quoted USDA/FSIS head guy, U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond, in an article entitled - USDA says has enough legal authority to do recalls - Dr. Raymond testified that the U.S. Agriculture Department does not need additional authority to conduct meat recalls and would oppose any move to make the removal of such items from the market mandatory, the USDA's top meat safety official told lawmakers on Wednesday.

"I think we do a very good job with recalls at this point at time," U.S. Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Raymond told a House Agriculture subcommittee on livestock, dairy, and poultry. "I believe we have all the legal authority we need to do our job," he said.

REALLY? So, what about this from the Associated Press this morning:

Recalled Topps meat found in N.J. stores

State inspectors said Wednesday that they have found more boxes of potentially tainted meat on store shelves more than a month after a nationwide recall of Topps frozen hamburgers. New Jersey authorities have also subpoenaed additional distributors and wholesalers to determine what other stores have the frozen patties and whether they were delivered after the Sept. 29 recall by the now-defunct Topps Meat Co. of Elizabeth. Over the past few weeks, 141 boxes of Topps burgers have been found at 12 stores, all in northern New Jersey except for one in Gloucester City in Camden County.

More from Dr. Raymond:

According to Dr. Raymond, currently, the industry initiates recalls voluntarily. Raymond said the current process works and any move by lawmakers to make recalls mandatory was unnecessary and risks causing the system to work less efficiently.

My definition of a "good job" differs a bit from Dr. Raymond.  Perhaps that is why under his leadership, 2007 has had close to 20 beef recalls, amounting to nearly 30,000,000 million pounds of meat and hundreds ill.  When was the last time anyone recalls a governmental official being fired?  Also, don't forget the USDA's complete failure to protect the public in the Topps Recall of a month ago.  Reread by post -  USDA/FSIS Timeline of Topps Recall.   Frankly, I am not sure giving USDA/FSIS recall authority, given its record, would make anyone safer.  But hey, as Dr. Raymond says:

“Our meat supply is the safest in the world.”

Or, perhaps not - See my Op-ed from a month ago - even before the Cargill recalls and illnesses  - Is the US beef supply safe?

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As the number of Cargill-related E. coli recalls has grown, we have pulled a few of our past E. coli battles with Cargill and its many subsidiaries. We have spent a bit of time over the years with Cargill and its lawyers.

• 1993 and 2000 Sizzler outbreak linked to Cargill/Excel

• 2001 Cargill/Excell Linked to Frozen Beef E. coli

• 2002 Cargill/Emmpak “fresh” ground meat linked to E. coli

A bit more history about Cargill - In 1995 Cargill announced the “End of E. coli” in the pages of the New York Times. Now, 12 years later it has recalled nearly 2,000,000 pounds of hamburger (that is nearly enough to give every New Yorker a quarter pounder) in October and November recalls.  Jane Genova, fellow blog addict, posted twice on what "Big Beef" needs to do to fix the problem and the PR.  This post also warranted a post by a top-shelf Florida Law Blogger - Labovick - entitled "Cargill-beef-recall-is-a-walk-down-memory-lane"

Cargill Meat Solutions is the umbrella organization of Cargill’s beef, pork and turkey businesses. A key part of Cargill Meat Solutions was Excel Corporation, which began business nearly 70 years ago and grew from a Midwestern beef company to also include pork, processed meats, case ready meats and food distribution centers. Follow the Timeline:
1936 - Beef processor Excel Packing Company is formed in Chicago

1941 - Excel Packing moves to Wichita

1970 - Excel changes name to Kansas Beef Industries

1974 - Kansas Beef Industries and Missouri Beef Packers, which was formed in 1964, merge to form MBPXL Corporation

1979 - Cargill, Incorporated, acquires MBPXL Corporation

1982 - Cargill renames MBPXL as Excel Corporation

Evolution of Cargill Meat Solutions - Excel was once known as America’s Beef Company. In the 1980s, the company moved beyond just beef and the U.S. border.

1982 - Food Distribution Centers: Excel opened its first food distribution center in Wichita, Kan., in 1982. Today, known as Cargill Food Distribution, the business distributes fresh beef and pork, and other products to grocers and foodservice outlets from 12 U.S. facilities.

1986
Further-processed, Value-added Meats: Excel acquired Del Pero Mondon (DPM), which was based in Marysville, Calif. The further processing business took the name of Emmpak Foods when Excel acquired Milwaukee-based Emmpak in 2001.

1987 - Pork Processing: Excel entered the pork processing business by purchasing two facilities that were being closed – one by Hormel in Ottumwa, Iowa, and the other by Oscar Mayer in Beardstown, Ill.

1989 - Canadian Beef: After two years of construction, Cargill Foods Ltd. opened a beef harvesting facility near High River, Alberta.

1991 - Australian Beef: Cargill Foods Australia acquired a meat processing business in Wagga Wagga, and two years later, converted it to a beef-only facility. Another facility, in Tamworth, was acquired in 1998.

1992 - Case-Ready Meats: Building on past efforts with case-ready meats, Excel/Cargill acquired a plant in Toronto and turned it into what is the longest-running of its five case-ready-only plants.

2000 - Cargill Meat Solutions: Cargill created Cargill Meat Solutions as one of 13 business platforms. In addition to Excel, Cargill Meat Solutions included Caprock Cattle Feeders, a leading finisher of beef cattle, and Cargill Pork, a leading producer of hogs. Cargill entered the hog production business in 1971 and acquired Caprock in 1974.

2001 - Turkey: Cargill Turkey Products was added to Cargill Meat Solutions. Cargill entered the turkey processing business in 1967. It grew through the 1998 acquisition of Plantation Foods in Waco, Tex., and the 2001 acquisition of Rocco Foods in Harrisonburg, Va. The general offices of Cargill Turkey Products moved to Wichita in 2003.

2003 - Taylor Beef: Cargill Meat Solutions created a business around Taylor Beef, which was acquired in 2002. Taylor focused on processing culled dairy cattle and producing ground beef.

2004 - Cargill Value Added Meats: Emmpak Foods, Inc., which was acquired in 2001 and based in Milwaukee, was combined with Cargill Turkey Products to form Cargill Value Added Meats. The general offices of the Cargill Value Added Meats business unit are located in Wichita. Finexcor: Cargill announces an agreement to acquire 50 percent of the shares of Finexcor, a leading Argentine beef processor and exporter. The purchase marks Cargill's first investment in the Argentine beef industry.

2005 - Better Beef: Cargill Limited and Better Beef Limited announce that the two companies have reached an agreement for Cargill to purchase beef processing and related assets operated by Better Beef Limited, headquartered in Guelph, Ontario.

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For some reason I could not sleep and woke-up quite early this morning to this in my in box - Cargill Meat Solutions Recalls Ground Beef Action due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.  I then saw the following press release from Cargill Meat Solutions [YOU MUST WONDER WHY THEY SEND OUT THE PRESS RELEASE ON A SATURDAY MORNING - PERHAPS NO ONE WILL NOTICE?]:

Cargill s voluntarily recalling approximately 1,084,384 pounds of ground beef produced at its Wyalusing, Pa., Cargill Regional Beef facility because of the possible presence of E. coli O157:H7. The ground beef products subject to recall were produced at the Wyalusing plant between Oct. 8 and 11, 2007, and were distributed to retailers nationwide.  Cargill learned of the possibility of contamination after the U.S. Department of Agriculture returned [WHEN WAS IT RETURNED] a confirmed positive on a sample of product produced Oct. 8, 2007.  Each package or label bears the establishment number “Est. 9400” inside the USDA mark of inspection. As the use/freeze-by dates for products subject to this recall have expired, consumers are urged to look in their freezers for these products and return or discard them if found.  In addition to the above listed products, there are various weights and varieties of ground beef, ground chuck, and ground sirloin product that were distributed for further processing and repackaging and will not bear the same establishment number on the package [MEANS - WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE REST OF THIS STUFF IS].

This from the Company that wants to sell you "Fake Red Meat."  Yesterday I was retained by two more families of two additional HUS victims of the earlier Cargill 1 million pound recall.  Products subject to this new recall are: 

Also, remember Cargill's 1 million pound recall from last month?  In that one Cargill products were sold at retail establishments, including Sam’s Club, and to restaurants and other institutions throughout the United States.  Since the investigation into that recall began in Minnesota, E. coli illnesses tied to Cargill ground beef products have been identified in Minnesota (5), Wisconsin (5), North Carolina (2) and Tennessee (3).  I think we can correctly assume that the numbers of ill people will continue to climb both from last months recall and from this months - another "million pound month."

* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1- pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Ground Beef Patty.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 85/15 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3-pound packages of “Century Farm 90/10 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 90/10 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 90/10 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 93/7 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Century Farm 96/4 Extra Lean Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/31/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Century Farm 85/15 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 93/7 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Chuck Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Chuck Ground Beef for Chili.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm Meatloaf Mix, Beef, Pork and Veal with Natural Flavors.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.25- pound packages of “Giant 75/25 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3.0- pound packages of “Giant 75/25 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Giant 80/20 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Giant 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Chuck Beef Patties 80/20.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Beef Patties 92/8.” Use by/freeze by 10/22/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Beef Patties 85/15 – Certified Angus Beef Brand.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Round Beef Patties 85/15.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 80% Lean 20% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 85% Lean 15% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 93% Lean 7% Fat, Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 93% Lean 7% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 96% Lean 4% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.25- pound packages of “Stop & Shop 75/25 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 5.0- pound packages of “Stop & Shop 75/25 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 85/15 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.2-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 87/13 Ground Beef Sirloin, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1- pound packages of “Stop & Shop 90/10 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.0-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 2.6-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 90/10 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 2.5-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 90/10 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 2.5-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 93/7 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Wegmans 80/20 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Wegmans 90/10 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 3.0- pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats, 73/27 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1- pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats, 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 3- pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats, 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 85/15 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 2.0 and 3.0 -pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 85/15 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 2-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 93/7 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 93/7 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 96/4 Ground Beef Extra Lean.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 90/10 Ground Beef Sirloin Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats Meatloaf Mix, Beef, Pork and Veal with Natural Flavors.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 80/20 Ground Beef for Chili.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Meat Loaf Mix, Made with Beef, Pork, Veal, with Natural Flavors.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Meatloaf Mix, A Blend of Fresh Ground Beef, Pork & Veal, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* Various weight packages of “85/15 Coarse Ground Beef for Chili Meat, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Ground Beef Chuck for Chili 80/20.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.3 pound packages of “Price Rite 85% Lean, 15% Fat Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3 pound packages of “Price Rite 80% Lean, 20% Fat Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3 pound packages of “Price Rite Meat loaf mix.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/207 & 11/03/2007

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Beef recalls raise concerns about food safety

Jeffrey Gold, AP Business Writer (a.k.a. “E. coli Guy”) interviewed the husband and father of two of my clients in the Topps E. coli case:

‘Food is being pushed out at such a rapid pace to keep up with demand, the product is not as safe as it could be. And we’re risking human life.’
—Keith Goodwin

Topps eventually issued a recall Sept. 25, and then expanded it Sept. 29 to include all frozen patties it had made in the past year—21.7 million pounds—the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history. Much of the meat had already been eaten, however, and illness in at least 40 people in eight states has been linked to the Topps hamburgers.  Keith Goodwin said the victims include his wife and a son, and wondered if the timing of the recall was at fault. He said they ate Topps hamburgers at a family picnic Sept. 15 in upstate New York, more than a week after authorities had evidence that Topps patties were contaminated.

“If the public had been made aware of that, a lot of these illnesses would have been avoided,” said Mr. Goodwin, of Groton, N.Y., who teaches at the town’s elementary school. He said his wife, Kristin, 34, was hospitalized for two days, while his son Lucas, 8, suffered kidney failure and was hospitalized for eight days. “The whole ordeal has been very scary,” Goodwin said.

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We filed two lawsuits today - one against Cargill on behalf of a Minnesota boy who became ill after eating an E. coli-contaminated hamburger and another on behalf of a Michigan man who became ill after eating a Salmonella-contaminated turkey pot pie.

In the Minnesota case:

According to the complaint, Scott Reber ate a hamburger made from a Cargill ground beef patty on September 22. By September 25, Scott had developed a gastrointestinal illness with symptoms typical of E. coli infection, and was hospitalized on September 28. While he was hospitalized, Scott’s parents learned that a stool specimen submitted for testing had tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

Elk River family sues Cargill for E. coli

An Elk River family filed the second E. coli lawsuit against Cargill.  Elk River residents John and Barb Reber’s son Scott, 7, became ill with E. coli after eating a hamburger made from a Cargill ground beef patty.  According to the complaint, Scott ate a hamburger on Sept. 22 and by Sept. 25 had developed a gastrointestinal illness with symptoms typical of E. coli. He was hospitalized on Sept. 28.

And in the Michigan case:

According to the lawsuit, David Small ate a Banquet brand turkey pot pie on Saturday, September 24, 2007 and became ill with symptoms of Salmonella infection the following day. Mr. Small’s symptoms worsened over the next days, and he sought medical attention at Munson Medical Center on September 27, 2007. He was admitted and remained hospitalized until September 29. Mr. Small later learned that his stool specimen had tested positive for Salmonella serotype I 4,[5],12:i:-, the strain associated with the Banquet pot pie outbreak.

TC man sues over tainted pot pie

David Small regularly ate pot pies for lunch, but a recent bout with salmonella prompted the Traverse City man to sue the company that produced the tainted pies.  Small, 51, filed a lawsuit Thursday against ConAgra Foods Inc. and Tom's Food Markets Inc. after he said he was infected with salmonella in September.  ConAgra recalled all of its store-brand and Banquet pot pies Oct. 11 after a investigation by the Centers for Disease Control linked the tainted pies to recent salmonella outbreaks in several states.

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