Here is a really good thing the FSIS has been doing over the last year - listing where recalled products really went. Click on links below to follow the trail of Huntington E. coli Beef and Daniele Salmonella Salami products:
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Two long days after word first surfaced about a multi-state outbreak of E. coli tied to raw cookie dough, the CDC has issued information detailing the illnesses. The outbreak appears to have begun March 1, 2009 and is still ongoing four months later
The CDC reports:
CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to investigate an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections.
As of Thursday, June 18, 2009, 65 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 29 states. Of these, 23 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (1), Arizona (2), California (2), Colorado (5), Delaware (1), Hawaii (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (5), Missouri (2), Montana (1), North Carolina (1), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (4), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (5), and Wisconsin (1).
Ill persons range in age from 2 to 57 years; however, more than 70% are less than 19 years old and none are over 60 years old; 75% are female. Twenty-five persons have been hospitalized, 7 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS); none have died. Reports of these infections increased above the expected baseline in May and continue into June.
Investigation of the Outbreak
In an epidemiologic study, ill persons answered questions about foods consumed during the days before becoming ill and investigators compared their responses to those of persons of similar age and gender previously reported to State Health Departments with other illnesses. Preliminary results of this investigation indicate a strong association with eating raw prepackaged cookie dough. Most patients reported eating refrigerated prepackaged Nestle Toll House cookie dough products raw.
E. coli O157:H7 has not been previously associated with eating raw cookie dough. CDC, the state health departments, and federal regulatory partners are working together in this ongoing investigation.
Clinical Features
Most people infected with E. coli O157:H7 develop diarrhea (often bloody) and abdominal cramps 2-8 days (average of 3-4 days) after swallowing the organism, but some illnesses last longer and are more severe. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. Most people recover within a week, but some develop a severe infection. A type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) can begin as the diarrhea is improving; this can occur in people of any age but is most common in children under 5 years old and the elderly.
Advice to Consumers
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7. If consumers have any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their home they should throw them away. Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces. The recall does not include Nestle Toll House morsels, which are used as an ingredient in many home-made baked goods, or other already baked cookie products.
Individuals who have recently eaten prepackaged, refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities.
Consumers should be reminded they should not eat raw food products that are intended for cooking or baking before consumption. Consumers should use safe food-handling practices when preparing such products, including following package directions for cooking at proper temperatures; washing hands, surfaces, and utensils after contact with these types of products; avoiding cross contamination; and refrigerating products properly.
As much as any other victim of the 2006 Dole Spinach Outbreak, Suzanne Bandy’s case is about the staggering contrast between past and present. When asked for her thoughts, Suzanne wrote of her first 57 years: “very simply, my life embodied the American Dream.” Suzanne’s former life is, however, gone for good. Now, she states, “I pray to God every day that I may wake up from this horrible nightmare and return to the life that I loved.”
Sadly, Suzanne’s prayers will never be answered. The E. coli O157:H7 infection, along with the resulting hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), that she suffered in September 2006 devastated her kidneys. Consequently, her current renal function—measured roughly a year after her acute illness—is nearing a level where either a kidney transplant or lifelong dialysis will be necessary for survival. It is forecast that Suzanne will reach end stage renal disease in as little as five years.
Mr. President, this could have happened to you too. E. coli O157:H7, as you will see from this video, is a very nasty bug.
Official word of the bagged spinach outbreak broke with the FDA’s announcement, on September 14, 2006, that a number of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses across the country “may be associated with the consumption of produce.”
Meanwhile, the FDA and CDC, in conjunction with local and state health agencies from across the country, worked feverishly to figure out the brand names associated with illness. Early statistical analysis suggested that many brands were implicated, but the spinach sold under the several brand names had all come from the Natural Selection Foods processing center in San Juan Batista, California. Accordingly, Natural Selection recalled all of its spinach products with “use by” dates from August 17 to October 1, 2006. The recall, of course, included Dole brand spinach. But further data and study ultimately narrowed the possible sources of the outbreak down to one brand of packaged greens: Dole.
Ultimately, the FDA confirmed 205 outbreak-related cases, with 102 hospitalizations, thirty-one cases of HUS, and five deaths, though the actual number of people affected by the outbreak was certainly much larger. This is the story of one of those cases.
The Ladies Tea, an annual tradition at Bethany Free Will Baptist Church, was catered by the Country Cottage in Locust Grove, which is at the center of the state and local health department investigation. One attendee has been sickened, more than 20 others "probable" says health department, after church tea attendees ate food served by Locust Grove's Country Cottage catering service.
Country Cottage catered the event Saturday, August 16. Approximately 160 of the 200 to 250 people attending the event have been contacted. Because there was no sign-in sheet, the number of attendees is an estimation. Because the catered event had a limited menu, it may help narrow down what food is the source of the E. coli.
Oklahoma State health investigators have confirmed that at least 248 people have become ill as a result of the E. coli O111 outbreak in Northeastern Oklahoma. Of that number, 202 were adults and 46 were children. A Pryor man, Chad Ingle, died. At least 64 people were hospitalized, including 16 who received kidney dialysis treatment. Of that number, nine were children and seven were adults. Investigators said the number of reported cases and hospitalizations may change as state investigators continue their investigation into the source of the outbreak. The common denominator is the Cottage Grove restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma.
To date the water in the well used at the restaurant has tested negative for E. coli O111, as has both the surfaces of the restaurant and left over food - REMEMBER - all were tested at least a week or more after people dined at the restaurant.
"Victims all over the country are suffering because of the breakdown of our meat supply safety system," said the plaintiffs' attorney William Marler. "Everyone deserves pathogen-free meat in restaurants, grocery stores and summer camp."
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A Boy Scout infected by E. coli while attending camp in Goshen filed suit Friday in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County. The lawsuit -- filed on behalf of Zachary Yost and his mother, Devon Drew -- names S & S Foods LLC as the defendant. In August, more than 80 people at a Boy Scout camp near Goshen were infected with E. coli. Yost attended the camp from July 20-26. The outbreak was linked to hamburger meat manufactured and sold by S & S Foods of California. The company recalled more than 150,000 pounds of meat.
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Sarah Palin, was she in Georgia? According to NPR, “She's also a moose-burger-eating, snow-mobile-riding maverick who's not afraid to take on fellow Republicans she disagrees with.” Jesse, you did not eat the moose burgers did you?
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that this week, while conducting voter registration drives in Ohio and Georgia, the 66-year-old civil rights leader was stricken with food poisoning. He’s now at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he was diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis and severe dehydration. Jesse, my email is bmarler@marlerclark.com.
Hell, it could have been E. coli.
Intestinal fecal contents of recently killed birds (three ring-billed gulls, two cas-pian terns, two starlings, one cowbird, one common grackle, one crow, one mourning dove, and one mallard duck) and mammals (12 beavers, 3 white-tailed deer, 2 mule deer, 2 moose, 1 squirrel, 1 ground hog, 1 red fox, and 1 raccoon) were tested for the presence of VTEC. Only one sample was found to be positive for VTEC. An O157:H7 strain was isolated from fecal contents extracted from the intestine of a moose killed in a collision with a car.
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Isaiah Peters is usually an active little boy. The 3 1/2-year-old red-headed youngster loves to kick his soccer ball around the backyard and play “Guitar Hero.” But instead, Isaiah is lying in a hospital bed in Minneapolis, where he is fighting through a painful illness, H.U.S., a complication of E. coli that can cause kidney failure. Since that time, Isaiah’s little body has withstood dialysis, transfusions, excruciating abdominal pain, IVs, catheters, pneumonia and more at the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.
“All fingers are pointing to the exotic petting zoo that was in Brandon,” Jon Peters said. “Isaiah rode a camel and fed the goats there. Never would we have imagined we would be here after a silly petting zoo.” It is simply too bad this is happening again, we have seen too many E. coli cases linked to petting zoos and fairs over the years – see www.fair-safety.com.
An account to help the family has been set up at The First National Bank in Brandon. The account is titled “Welcome Home, Isaiah.”
A Boy Scout who was infected by E. coli O157:H7 while attending camp in Virginia filed suit today in the Circuit Court of Rockbridge County. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Zachary Yost and his mother, Devon Drew, against S & S Foods LLC. The plaintiffs are represented by Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness, and Maryland attorney Benson Klein of Ward & Klein.
In August 2008, 84 people at a Boy Scout camp near Goshen, Virginia were infected with a highly toxic form of E. coli, the O157:H7 strain. The outbreak was traced to hamburger meat manufactured and sold by S & S Foods of California. Zachary Yost attended the camp from July 20 through July 26. Yost ate hamburger meat while at camp, and fell ill on July 26. He experienced cramping, nausea, and diarrhea, which by July 29 became bloody. In the process of receiving medical care, he tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. S & S hamburger meat at the camp also tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, and the company recalled more than 150,000 pounds of meat.
“There has been a record amount of E. coli-tainted meat recalled in the last year and a half,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney William Marler. “Unfortunately, that has meant that that there have also been a record number of E. coli illnesses. Victims all over the country are suffering because of the breakdown of our meat supply safety system. Everyone deserves pathogen-free meat—in restaurants, grocery stores, and summer camp!”
E. coli is often contracted by consuming food or beverage that has been contaminated by animal (especially cattle) manure. The majority of food borne E. coli outbreaks has been traced to contaminated ground beef; however leafy vegetables that have been contaminated in fields or during processing have been increasingly identified as the source of outbreaks, as have unpasteurized milk and cheese, unpasteurized apple juice and cider, alfalfa and radish sprouts, orange juice, and even water. There have also been outbreaks associated with petting zoos and agricultural fairs.
“Zachary has yet to test free of E. coli,” continued Marler. “His body is still fighting the infection, and restricting what he can do. Meat companies need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the effects their tainted products have on consumers.”
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Outbreak of Severe Diarrheal Illness in Northeastern Oklahoma
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) reports today that laboratory analysis of water samples taken from a private well on the property of the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, has found no disease-causing bacteria. The restaurant has been associated with a large E. coli 0111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma.
“The well water is not the source of this outbreak,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley. “We are continuing our efforts to conduct microbiological testing of food preparation and serving surfaces in the restaurant, and we continue to interview cases, as we try to establish an association with those who became ill and a potential source.”
At least 206 persons are sick as a result of the outbreak including 149 adults, 53 children, and four whose ages have not yet been confirmed. Cases range in age from 2 months to 88 years. One person has died.
“This appears to be the largest E. coli 0111 outbreak ever reported in the U.S.,” Bradley stated. “The complexity of this outbreak and the necessity to be extremely thorough in our investigation means we still have more questions than answers.”
OSDH disease investigators, along with staff from Tulsa Health Department and area local county health departments, have interviewed more than 500 persons in an effort to identify the source of the outbreak.
The restaurant is closed while the investigation continues. Not all persons who ate at the restaurant have become ill. No other restaurant or food service outlet in the area has been linked to the outbreak.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) reports today that at least 176 persons have become ill as a result of the E. coli O111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma. Cases include 128 adults and 48 children. Federal and state health officials say E. coli O111 is a rare type not normally associated with an outbreak this large. OSDH disease investigators, along with staff from Tulsa Health Department and area local county health departments, have interviewed more than 450 persons in an effort to identify the source of the outbreak. Interviews continue this weekend. While the source has not yet been identified, health officials continue to focus on the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, after interviews with cases indicated most had eaten there during the time period Aug. 15 through Aug. 23.
The restaurant is closed while the investigation continues. Not all persons who ate at the restaurant have become ill. No other restaurant or food service outlet in the area has been linked to the outbreak. OSDH laboratory analysis of water samples taken from a private well on the restaurant property is continuing, however, health officials believe it is unlikely that any well water contamination is the source of the outbreak.
Prior Outbreaks of E. coli O111:
- Escherichia coli O111:H8 Outbreak Among Teenage Campers - Texas, 1999
On July 16th, 2008 the Connecticut Department of Agriculture began an investigation of a possible link between several reported illnesses and the consumption of Retail Raw Milk (unpasteurized milk). Recently we concluded that investigation. The investigation was prompted when the Department was notified by Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) Epidemiologists of 2 reported illnesses in which both patients had consumed Retail Raw Milk from a dairy licensed to produce Retail Raw Milk and pasteurized milk and milk products. The patients were aged 2 and 7, one was on dialysis. After notifying the dairy of the investigation, the dairy voluntarily stopped sale of all milk. Soon after the initial 2 reported illnesses, DPH reported 2 additional cases linked to the dairy. By the time we concluded our investigation a total of 7 known individuals were sickened from consuming Retail Raw Milk and several were hospitalized. The Retail Raw Milk implicated in this incident was purchased from 2 separate national, natural food, chain store locations and directly from the farm. None of the reported illnesses were linked to pasteurized milk and milk products produced at this dairy.
The individuals sickened had acquired a condition known as Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and one case of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP). HUS is a disorder that occurs when an infection in the digestive system produces toxic substances that destroy red blood cells. It often effects the kidneys. This disorder is most common in children. It often occurs after a gastrointestinal (enteric) infection, often caused by a type of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria, O157:H7. Unpasteurized (Raw) milk has been associated with several outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infections in the U.S. Other outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 have been associated with undercooked or raw hamburger (ground beef), unpasteurized fruit juices, alfalfa sprouts, dry-cured salami, lettuce, game meats and from transmission from animals to humans from contact with infected animals. HUS also can be caused by other enteric infections, including Shigella and Salmonella, and some non-enteric infections. Patients with TTP have clinical and pathologic features similar to patients with HUS.
In addition to Department of Agriculture staff, the investigation involved the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments. After extensive testing of milk, milk contact surfaces, water sources, the environment in and around the farm and processing plant and, analysis of feces from each milking aged animal, the department obtained a genetic fingerprint match between E. coli O157:H7 recovered from the feces of 1 cow and E. coli O157:H7 isolated from 3 patients.
Approximately 170 separate samples and specimens of milk, water, feces and swabs of milk contact surfaces were analyzed by the DPH Public Health Laboratory in a 3 week period. A review of scientific literature reveals that E. coli O157:H7 as well as other food borne pathogens most likely are introduced into milk by contamination from animals shedding the organism in their feces. Direct introduction of pathogens into the milk from the bloodstream is unlikely but can not be ruled out. The department has concluded that the most likely cause of this food borne illness outbreak was the consumption of Retail Raw Milk contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. While good sanitation and management practices can lower the incidence of pathogens in raw milk we believe and studies support the position that pasteurization is the only proven way to eliminate pathogens from raw milk.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Food and Drug Administration, and other public health authorities such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the Association of Food and Drug Officials, and National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians all oppose the consumption of unpasteurized milk because of the health risks.
The food borne illness outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma that has sickened more than 115, hospitalized 50 and taken one life is the latest emergence of the virulent and highly toxic E. coli bacterium. Most E. coli outbreaks in North America are subtypes of E. coli O157:H7, but the CDC has just revealed that this outbreak is a rare serotype: E. coli O111.
“This is highly unusual,” said food borne illness attorney William Marler. “We have been involved in every major US outbreak in the last 15 years, and we have only seen this serotype twice before—once traced to apple cider in New York, and once connected to water or salad in Texas.”
Although many strains of E. coli can be present in the body with no ill effects, strains like E. coli O111 and E. coli O157:H7 produce a deadly shiga toxin (stx) which ravages the digestive system and kidneys. By the time symptoms emerge—abdominal cramping, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea—the bacteria is already entrenched. Although there is no cure or antidote, immediate health care is critical to support the systems under attack, keep the patient hydrated, and try to alleviate the intense pain that accompanies the illness as the body works to rid itself of the toxic bacteria.
In those with compromised or immature immune systems, E. coli can progress to Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS. Children, whose immune systems are not as developed as adults’, are especially vulnerable. HUS is a cascading complication resulting in kidney failure; at the moment several children in Oklahoma are on dialysis. Even when they are able to recover from the potent E. coli toxin (considered by the CDC to be one of the most toxic substances known to man), victims often have permanent kidney damage. It is not unusual for E coli victims infected as children to need multiple kidney transplants over their lifetime.
“Regardless of the strain of toxic E. coli, it produces a devastating illness.” continued Marler. “Under the best circumstances, it can take months to recover. Some victims are affected for the rest of their lives. We need to support the families going through this nightmare, and do everything we can to help them.”
According to Kim Archer of the Tulsa World, Oklahoma state health officials have determined that a relatively rare and virulent form of E. coli infected dozens of patrons of Country Cottage, killing one and sickening more than 73 people. More than 50 of those who fell ill were hospitalized. Five children remain in the pediatric intensive care unit at Children's Hospital at St. Francis. Four are on dialysis. Two other children were sent to OU Children's Hospital. Ms. Archer quoted State epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley as saying the E. coli strain is not the commonly known E. coli O157:H7. Non-O157 strains are more common in South America and parts of Europe, according to the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
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I could not agree more. Shiga toxin is one of the most potent toxins known to man, so much so that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists it as a potential bioterrorist agent (CDC, n.d.). It seems likely that DNA from Shiga toxin-producing Shigella bacteria was transferred by a bacteriophage (a virus that infects bacteria) to otherwise harmless E. coli bacteria, thereby providing them with the genetic material to produce Shiga toxin.
Although E. coli O157:H7 is responsible for the majority of human illnesses attributed to E. coli, there are additional Stx-producing E. coli (e.g., E. coli O121:H19) that can also cause hemorrhagic colitis and post-diarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (D+HUS). HUS is a syndrome that is defined by the trilogy of hemolytic anemia (destruction of red blood cells), thrombocytopenia (low platelet count), and acute kidney failure.
Stx-producing E. coli organisms have several characteristics that make them so dangerous. They are hardy organisms that can survive several weeks on surfaces such as counter tops, and up to a year in some materials like compost. They have a very low infectious dose meaning that only a relatively small number of bacteria (< 50) are needed “to set-up housekeeping” in a victim’s intestinal tract and cause infection.
I represented three Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome victims in an outbreak of E. coli O21:H19 linked to a Utah Wendys in 2006. Non-O157:H7 was also likely responsible for some of the illnesses in the Dole Spinach outbreak of 2006.
I also recently gave a speech in front of the USDA/FSIS on making all Shiga-toxin producing E. coli’s adulterants under the US Meat Inspection Act. Here is that text:
Another issue facing, not only the meat industry, but all of us, is the extent to which non-O157 E. coli may be present in food products – FSIS regulated or not. It is clear that Non-O157 Shiga toxin producing E. coli have emerged as a public health issue. Some non-O157 possess the same range of virulence factors as E. coli O157:H7 and are capable of causing serious illnesses, or death. Numerous serotypes, including O26, O103, O111 and O145 have been identified as agents of food borne disease.
I have seen their nasty work in the Dole spinach outbreak and an outbreak in Utah involving Wendy’s. Since 1990, 13 outbreaks of non-O157 E. coli have been reported in the US. While E. coli O157 is the principal strain isolated from implicated food and clinical isolates in the US, non-O157 predominate in other countries, including several of our beef trading partners like Australia, Brazil and Canada.
I will leave this to scientists and public health officials to sort all out. However, perhaps one needs to look no further than the FEDERAL MEAT INSPECTION Act and look at the term ''adulterated" for and answer. A product is adulterated: (1) if it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health." If non-O157 E. coli fits the bill, then to me that answers the question. However, what do we then do about salmonella, listeria, campylobacter, and shigella – especially those with particular virulence or antibiotic resistance?
One thing to remember, whether a product is considered to be an adulterant under the FMI or not, if a food product contains a bacteria or virus that sickens or kills, civil liability can, and often will attach. My vote is to simply get pathogens out of your product.
E. coli reporter, Josh Funk, and I had a chance to talk a bit following my speech to ConAgra’s Food Safety Council about Nebraska Beef Ltd.’s slow response to indications that its products might have been tainted with E. coli. According to the FSIS, “Nebraska Beef was notified in the first half of June that two samples of its trim to be used in ground beef had tested positive for E. coli.” You must wonder when this company will get a clue. Will it be more illnesses? More recalls? More lawsuits (we just filed another)? Or, perhaps criminal sanctions? The company's products have now been linked to E. coli illnesses affecting 49 people in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio. The meat recall announced last week was expanded from 531,707 to 5.3 million pounds."Paying attention to food safety is ultimately good for the bottom line and good for your company morally," Marler said.
Too often, Marler said, companies either ignore or do not recognize warning signs of food borne illness.
Marler credited ConAgra Chief Executive Gary Rodkin and other company executives for inviting him to speak.
"It says a lot for the company," Marler said.
E. coli infections began showing up in central Ohio in mid-June, paralleled by a sharp increase in E. coli cases in Michigan. By June 20, officials had genetically linked many of the Ohio and Michigan cases; the days that followed, the outbreak was traced to ground beef from Kroger stores. With illnesses nearing 30, Kroger initiated a voluntary recall on June 25. On June 30, FSIS announced that the tainted meat had been traced back to Nebraska Beef Products, and a recall of 531,707 pounds of ground beef products was initiated. On July 2, the Kroger recall widened to 20 states. On July 3, the Nebraska Beef recall was widened to include 5.3 million pounds. Georgia is not on the Kroger recall list, but is part of the Nebraska Beef recall..jpg)
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$10,000 reward still offered for information leading to the arrest of the persons who stole the meat-filled trailer. "The bottom line is, it's never safe to buy meat on the street."
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Susan Tallant and the Fort Worth Star-Ledger is on the trail of the E. coli-tainted trailer stolen from American Fresh Foods parking lot a few days ago. According to the report, “the meat was in a trailer, not hitched to a tractor, on the parking lot of American Fresh Foods, 1301 Northpark Drive, just northeast of downtown off Samuels Avenue…. The thief or thieves must have brought a tractor to haul off the trailer, officials said.”.jpg)
The meat-filled refrigerated trailer is a white 2000 Great Dane, Maine license plate number 1925071, trailer number Q061232. The company's logo and "XTRA LEASE" are on the side of the trailer.
Well, the stocking are hung and the presents are all wrapped, and I am surfing the net to see what there is to blog about (my version of the “Night Before Christmas”) when I found this quote:
“Nine billion food animals are produced and slaughtered in the United States annually, and all of those animals are defecating and shedding bacteria, including drug-resistant bacteria…. We are running out of antibiotics to treat human infections.” Lance Price
Antibiotic-resistant bugs have been in the news recently. Some, like Salmonella Newport, have caused illness in consumers of Safeway ground beef. Newsday recently reported - "Poultry Workers may spread E. coli" – No, not E. coli O157:H7, but gentamicin-resistant E. coli.
Public health investigators at Johns Hopkins University estimate that workers in poultry factories in the United States are 32 times more likely to be colonized with E. coli that repels the antibiotic gentamicin than other people. The drug is used to treat both poultry and humans.
Recently, in a new study, “MRSA prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers,” published in Veterinary Microbiology found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalent in Canadian pig farms and pig farmers, pointing to animal agriculture as a source of the deadly bacteria.
The US Government seems concerned enough to at least study the problem of antibiotic resistant bugs in our food supply. It created the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) in 1996 as a collaborative effort between the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The NARMS program monitors changes in antimicrobial drug susceptibilities of selected enteric bacterial organisms in humans, animals, and retail meats to a panel of antimicrobial drugs important in human and animal medicine. Animal and human isolates currently monitored in NARMS include Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria and Shigella. Some selected articles on antibiotic resistance:
Antibiotic Resistance in Listeria, Antibiotic Resistance in Shigella, Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli, Antibiotic Resistance in Campylobacter, Antibiotic resistance in Salmonella
Well, looks like it will be a far too busy and profitable New Year.
As Dawn Withers of the Salinas Californian wrote this morning, “E. coli cases at talk stage,” I am actually in Salt Lake City meeting with representatives from Dole, Natural Selection Foods and Mission Organic and their insurers to talk about resolving several cases involving Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. As Dawn wrote:
Bill Marler, a Seattle-based attorney handling the cases of people made ill from tainted spinach, said 51 cases have been settled and another 21 are pending. Six will be the focus of the negotiations this week, he said Wednesday.
“We’ve been working through them, and it hasn’t been without controversy,” Marler said.
Marler said the negotiations for monetary compensation, which are confidential, are complex because some his clients face kidney transplants in the future and lifelong complications from kidney damage caused by the bacteria in the tainted spinach.
“We’re trying to figure out what the right amount of money is to compensate a 4-year-old who will lose her kidneys,” he said.
We in fact were able to resolve all six of the cases today in spite of much gnashing of teeth. I had a quick chat today with the FOODSNARK about Spinach, E. coli and life in general.
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Andrew Martin, well known as the “E. coli guy” in the NYT’s Newsroom, has been spending a bit too much time in slaughterhouses and talking to at least one trial lawyer. One will make you a vegetarian, the other, well, might make you a Republican. Mr. Martin’s story – “Meat Processors Look for Ways to Keep Ground Beef Safe," is worth a serious read. Clearly, the industry and government are struggling to figure out why more people are turning to me for help. Hard to believe that the President has my self-interest at heart. As Mr. Martin wrote:It is difficult to say whether the amount of E. coli in ground beef has increased this year, since the number of recalls is an imperfect measure. Limited sampling by the Agriculture Department has found a slight increase in the level of E. coli O157:H7 this year over recent years, though it remains lower than it was five or six years ago.That being said, there has been an increase in E. coli cases. Parents of sick kids are calling me way too often. I had some earlier posts on this blog that at least explored some of the reasons for the “uptick” in E. coli cases:
“I wish I had a silver bullet. We have done a lot, and it’s a continuing ongoing process to look for more,” Mr. Danilson said (Dean A. Danilson is in charge of Tyson’s food safety). But he acknowledged that it was impossible to create a perfect system for stopping E. coli O157:H7. “Taking a dirty animal and turning it into food — from the time of the cave man, that has not been an easy process.”But, the best quotes came from out here in very rainy Seattle:
But some meat industry officials say they are sure that more E. coli is turning up in cattle this year. That impression is shared by William Marler, a lawyer in Seattle who specializes in food-borne illness and who has seen a marked increase in clients who say they became sick from eating E. coli-contaminated meat. “This is real stuff,” he said. “It is a fundamentally different year than ’06, ’05, ’04 and ’03.”
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Not too long ago, I wondered if the beef industry had actually wised up, and was about to put me out of the business of representing the people they make sick. After a decade of nearly continuous outbreaks of deadly E. coli O157:H7, from Jack in the Box to ConAgra, the beef industry seemed to suddenly clean up its act. Earlier this year, the American Meat Institute claimed the incidence of E. coli in meat had dropped by 80 percent. That would have been good news for millions of Americans, especially young children, who are most vulnerable to food-borne illness. It would have been good news for the beef industry. And, believe it or not, it would have been good news to a lawyer who would prefer to never see another three-year-old child hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine. But, of course, it was too good to be true. In the last few months, E. coli O157:H7 has returned – perhaps literally with a vengeance. .jpg)
I spent the last few days looking at as many resources that track red meat – primarily hamburger - recalls and the Illnesses stemming from them. Here is what I have found – somewhat in chronological order. 2007 has had a substantial increase in the volume of recalls and illnesses in any year since 2002. By way of comparison, the amount of ground beef recalled in all of 2006 was 156,235 pounds in only 8 recalls. To date in 2007, over 29,248,167 pounds of meat have been recalled in 20 recalls. Well over 100 people have been sickened, some developing acute kidney failure – many have contacted me. There are several E. coli-related deaths that may be linked to consumption of hamburger. Here is the 2007 list of recalls (some do not list pounds recalled):.jpg)
Knox Times-Tribune staff writer Heather Cole wrote, “the death of a Knox County woman is under investigation and E. coli O157:H7 bacteria is believed to be the source of her illness. Vickie Shelton, 47, died Monday afternoon at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington after being admitted.” She also wrote “officials at the U.S. Department of Heath in Fayette County are testing samples of ground beef Shelton had reportedly consumed prior to becoming sick. American Foods Group (AFG) of Green Bay, Wisconsin issued the recall on products produced in October and reportedly shipped to retailers and distributors in seven states including Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Virginia. The recall, issued November 24, is a class 1 recall with health risks listed as “high.” The problem was discovered through an investigation into two illnesses that was initiated by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
As I wrote in a previous blog post:
We have seen this all before. In December 1998, a recall was issued for 1,000 pounds of beef manufactured by AFG and distributed to Cub Foods stores in the Chicago, Illinois area after random testing showed that meat in one of the stores was contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. In December 1999, a recall of ground beef was made after government inspectors found contamination at the AFG plant. In December 2000, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) issued a press release stating that 17 Minnesota citizens had been infected with the same strain of the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria during November 2000. On December 4, FSIS, stated in a Class I alert that Green Bay Dressed Beef, the meat supplier doing business as AFG, was, at the suggestion of the FSIS, recalling 1.1 million pounds of contaminated ground beef. Yet another recall, this time for over 500,000 pounds of ground beef manufactured by AFG, occurred in August 2001.
I am beginning to loose track of how many illnesses have been caused by E. coli-contaminated hamburger this year (must be well over 1,000 officially reported) and how much meat has been recalled this year (must be in excess of 32,000,000 pounds). And, "we have the safest food in the world?" I say, Bull#%^*!
According to press reports, an FDA requested panel says food safety in particular is in crisis. (Full Report) Questions about the FDA's effectiveness have been underscored by alarming headlines in recent years -- including E. coli in spinach, deadly chemicals in pet foods, toxic toothpaste and the heart-damaging side effects of drugs. The report says Congress has given the FDA more responsibilities over the past two decades, but no funds to cover the extra work. Meanwhile, the agency hasn't been able to recruit the sophisticated scientific expertise needed to oversee complex medicines and food. The report says the FDA needs at least an extra 350 million dollars to address drug safety, and 450 million more dollars to improve food safety. Actually, the same holds true for the USDA. Just in the last two months we have seen the USDA move slowly on the Topps recall, putting people at risk, and then we see them announce one day that the USDA is getting tough on Canadian E. coli imports, only to turn around quietly and stop testing a week later.
John Green of The Hutchinson News in Sterling Kansas wrote "5-year-old who had E. coli goes home" about the homecoming of Aubrey Anderson after a long battle with E. coli O157:H7 and HUS. To date the family has not learned how Aubrey contracted the sometimes fatal infection.“It will be weeks, and perhaps months, before the family knows how much the illness damaged her kidneys, and whether she'll face a lifetime of treatment or be in the clear, said her father, Bill Anderson….We won't know until we get at least six or seven weeks out if there's any residual scarring as a result of the E. coli," Anderson said. "If there is scarring, it may mean anywhere from a range of a kidney transplant to her maybe having to take oral medication for the rest of her life to keep her body in balance."
I am still in New Orleans. I must admit, I expected a bit more devastation here in the downtown area from Katrina, but things looked great – especially in the French Quarter. We made some slow progress in talking to ConAgra, its lawyers and insurers about the status of the Peanut Butter cases. Hopefully, at some point ConAgra can put the interests of its customers at the front of any discussions. During one of the breaks today, I took a call from Dinesh Ramde, AP Business Writer of Milwaukee:More than a year after their two children were severely sickened by E. coli, a southeastern Wisconsin couple has settled their federal lawsuit with four spinach companies. Details of the settlement were secret, but in court documents filed in 2006, lawyers for the family asked for more than $75,000 plus court costs.
A family lawyer said Tuesday that parents Neil and Anne Grintjes of the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield are just glad the matter is resolved. "They're happy to put it behind them, and the companies are happy to put it behind them as well," said William Marler, an attorney at Marler Clark in Seattle. "The Grintjes are pleased at the result."
Of the 204 people sickened by the tainted greens, Marler said about 100 have brought a lawsuit. His firm is handling 83 cases and has resolved 51 within the past few months.
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We have more work to do on Spinach, and other leafy greens, but then again, think about all the other food items that are causing all of us and our families so much grief - Peanut Butter, Pot Pies, Hamburger, etc. Makes you wonder what you can or can not eat. We have much to do to make food corporations be responsible."We believe in caring for our customers and caring for our employees. That will not change."
Tom Rosen, Co-Chairman of American Foods Group, LLC
Oh, Really? I guess lightning can strike more than once in the same spot!
American Foods Group, LLC (AFG), a Green Bay, Wisconsin firm, is recalling approximately 95,927 pounds of various coarse and fine ground beef products because they are contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The ground beef products subject to recall were produced on Oct. 10, 2007, and were distributed to retail establishments and distributors in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Virginia. The problem was discovered through an investigation into two illnesses that was initiated by the Illinois Department of Public Health. That is how the USDA figures out outbreaks - send the contaminated meat into the market place and see if people get sick - the American pubic, canaries in the coal mine. I wonder if AFG did any "test and hold?"
The FSIS web site also reflects that American Foods Group (AFG) is a processing establishment, and does not slaughter. The web site also shows that the establishment is part of a conglomerate which also owns Green Bay Dressed Beef, which has more than one establishment, one of which is Est # 410 in Green Bay, which does slaughter. Green Bay Dressed Beef had a Mad Cow scare in August 2005.
Unfortunately for AFG's customers this was not an isolated occurrence. We have seen this all before. In December 2000, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) issued a press release stating that 17 Minnesota citizens had been infected with the same strain of the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria during November 2000. On December 4, FSIS, stated in a Class I alert that Green Bay Dressed Beef, the meat supplier doing business as AFG, was, at the suggestion of the FSIS, recalling 1.1 million pounds of contaminated ground beef. One of the young children we represented developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).
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Also, In December 1998, another recall was issued for 1,000 pounds of beef manufactured by AFG and distributed to Cub Foods stores in the Chicago, Illinois area after random testing showed that meat in one of the stores was contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Again, in December 1999, a recall of ground beef was made after government inspectors found contamination at the AFG plant. Yet another recall, this time for over 500,000 pounds of ground beef manufactured by AFG, occurred in August 2001. In that outbreak we represented five people.
Jennifer Smith Richards of the Columbus Dispatch weighed in on the recent AFG recall in an article “More beef might be tainted, states told.” AFG's shocking indifference is concerning:
"It's something that, unfortunately, happens with a raw product like ground beef," said Jim Mulhern, a spokesman for American Foods Group. "It's not 100 percent preventable.... One of the problems with these recalls is American Foods Group doesn't know where it was eventually sold," Mulhern said.
One more "beef" of mine - It is an agreement between USDA and industry — USDA will not disclose the names of slaughter houses without a positive test “above the grinder” - which is why there is no mention of where the meat came from that was ground by AFG in this latest recall. Also, on the "downside" of the grinder - on the retail side - there is also an agreement between USDA and industry to not disclose “proprietary information” - which includes where the contaminated meat was sold. Health Departments have to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to not disclose that information to the public in order to get the information from USDA. Welcome to my world — ever read Kafka? I put some of my thought on this recall out in a press release.
The following products are subject to this most recent recall:
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 73/27." Each shipping label bears a product code of "65000."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 75/25." Each shipping label bears a product code of "65800."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF SIRLOIN, FINE GROUND 90/10." Each shipping label bears a product code of "66000."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 80/20." Each shipping label bears a product code of "66400."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 75/25." Each shipping label bears a product code of "19900."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 73/27." Each shipping label bears a product code of "20100."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF CHUCK, FINE GROUND 82/18." Each shipping label bears a product code of "20600."
* Bulk weight packages of "CHOP BEEF STEAK, FINE GRIND "86/14." Each shipping label bears a product code of "30000."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF SIRLOIN, FINE GROUND 92/08." Each shipping label bears a product code of "30400."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF ROUND, FINE GROUND 87/13." Each shipping label bears a product code of "30200."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 80/20." Each shipping label bears a product code of "30700."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF CHUCK, FINE GROUND 82/18." Each shipping label bears a product code of "31400."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 93/07." Each shipping label bears a product code of "31600."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF, FINE GROUND 73/27." Each shipping label bears a product code of "31700."
* Bulk weight packages of "BEEF MODIFIED, FINE GROUND 93/07." Each shipping label bears a product code of "31900."
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In October Topps Meat Company, founded in 1940, went out of business. That was after Topps had recalled nearly 22 million pounds of frozen hamburger contaminated with E. coli and 40 people across the U.S. had become ill.
Tort deformers decried the “tragedy” that is this Topps’ collapse - that a business went under and employees had lost their jobs. Yes, a company bankrupt and unemployment are tragic. What makes it more so is that the catastrophic breakdown in the food-safety chain at Topps could have and should have been prevented by Topps management.
It’s been a century since Utpon Sinclair published the “Jungle," which exposed the contaminated underbelly of the American meat industry. Reform quickly followed. America got the Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Acts. In the early 1990s, when these safeguards failed – e.g. Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak – again there was a public push for improving food safety.
The U.S.D.A. Food and Inspection Service responded with creating and aggressively enforcing the mandatory Risk Management System. Derived from research and operations in the American space program, this approach [HACCP] prevented new outbreaks by establishing check-points at every phase of meat processing. In addition, the agency classified the presence of E. coli O157:H7 as an adulterant under the Meat Inspection Act. Until recently, the meat contamination problem seemed fixed.
Had Topps complied with the letter and spirit of HACCP, it would not have processed contaminated meat in 2005 and again in 2007. So, why hadn’t Topps done what was the right thing to do for it and its now unemployed? We will be researching that question for years.
My theory is that Topps’ leadership might have chosen to take short-cuts on systemic food-safety procedures. Therefore, contamination which should have been detected early in meat processing wasn’t. The result wasn’t pretty: Food-poisoned consumers went through the agony that E. coli inflicts. They had incorrectly trusted that label “Inspected by the U.S.D.A.” as guaranteeing safety.
Over a century, two waves of reform in ensuring the safety of the American food supply chain have given business a total systems approach. That approach works if management follows the rules. Unfortunately, employees at Topps who lost their means of making a living were among those punished - severely.
Will other businesses be able to learn that century-old lesson: Inattention to proper food processing will be the kiss of death for their brandname, profitability and, yes, very existence.
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Jeffrey Gold, AP's "E. coli guy," in New Jersey filed the story that had been rumored about for weeks about Topps Meat Company's Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Topps has up to 10,000 creditors (including several of my clients) and liabilities of up to $100 million, according to its Chapter 7 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark. Interestingly, Topps put its assets in the same range.
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As you recall, Topps closed its doors on October 5, six days after it issued the recall of 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger. In September, the USDA said three people were confirmed as getting E. coli from Topps products, with 22 other cases under investigation. According to the CDC, cases were found in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. That number has grown to at least 40. We have filed two lawsuits on behave of victims (two develpoded HUS) in New York and are investigating the claims of 24 others. We filed a similar lawsuit against Topps in 2005 - bet they wished they would have listened then. In early December we will be visiting the now empty plant.
Interestingly, also listed as creditors are Tyson Foods Inc., of Chicago, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Another creditor appears to be Topps executive vice president Anthony L. D'Urso, a member of the family that ran Topps for about 60 years until a controlling interest was purchased in 2003 by Strategic Investments & Holdings, a private-equity firm based in Buffalo, N.Y. That means that these and other creditors will compete with people injured by E. coli food poisoning - that is going to be an interesting fight over the corporate corpse.
Although, Topps has listed $12,000,000 in insurance to cover the claims of the victims of the E. coli outbreak, with at least 40 ill, and punitive damage claims, retail outlets (stores that sold the product) and the suppliers of the meat, are clearly going to be brought into the case once the bankruptcy stay has been lifted. I also really want to subpoena USDA/FSIS officials. The bottom line for us is that we intend to make sure our clients are fairly compensated AND we find out when both Topps and the USDA knew about the extent of the E. coli contamination and why the recall took weeks to occur.
I have also had a few email chats over the last 24 hours with Law Firm Blogger (who has a significant background following bankruptcy cases). I appreciate her insight and her post today, and her article today.
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Steve Doyle of the Huntsville Times does a great job of giving life to how horrible an E. coli O157:H7 illness can truly be.
Weeks in hospital 'blur' after E. coli hit
I urge everyone to read the full article linked above. Some of the points that hit me hardest:
Robert Roos, CIDRAP News Editor caught the USDA ones again saying that it is interested in public safety, but when no one is looking changes the rules. Mr. Roos' article entitled, “USDA modifies E. coli testing rules for Canadian beef,” is frankly shocking. According to the story, the “USDA has modified its program of increased testing and inspection of Canadian meat, after finding no problems in the first week or so, a USDA official said today.” Wow, after nearly killing 40 people in the US in the Topps E. coli outbreak (and, no one is counting the 44 sick and 1 dead Canadian), and after one whole week of testing, our government decreases testing AND allows meat to be shipped to consumers BEFORE test results even come back.
Mr. Roos also reported that, despite hundreds of people sickened in the US in 2007 and over 30 million pounds of meat recalled, the “USDA is not considering requiring American meat companies to hold meat until pathogen testing is completed, contrary to a recent news report…. the USDA has long had guidelines recommending that companies hold meat until test results come back, "but it's not something we require."
Does anyone wonder why people think government is useless?
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When Taco Bell offered free tacos for every American during baseball’s World Series last month, all I could do was hold my head and mutter something like: "Hasta luego, Amigos!"
The very idea of doling out fast-food tacos to millions of baseball fans should ring like a casino jackpot jingle in the corridors of a personal injury law firm like mine - or all the "wannabees" that are beginning to light up the Internet with "google ads" and plagiarized blogs. Recently tacos seem have a food-poisoning track record right up there with Chinese-manufactured pet food. In the past few years alone, we’ve seen outbreaks of deadly E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Listeria, Shigella and Norovirus in at least 13 states, from Washington and California to New York and Texas – all traced to restaurant tacos.
Just this year there have been taco-related outbreaks in Alabama, Illinois and Oregon. And those are just the outbreaks scientifically traced by public health officials. We’ll never know how many more people have been sickened without identifying a source. Tracing the source of disease outbreaks isn’t easy. Health officials need to detect an outbreak early, thoroughly interview sick people and find the common denominator before memories fade and evidence disappears.
And even when tacos are suspect, the specific source of the poison varies from one outbreak to the next. In the Alabama outbreak last summer, the culprit may have been lettuce laced with E. coli. In Illinois, it was Salmonella in the cheese. An outbreak at Taco Bell last year in East Coast states was blamed on tainted lettuce, or as my post below says - maybe not. Others have been tracked back to green onions, cilantro or undercooked meat. It seems that when restaurants layer tortillas, meat, cheese, tomatoes, onions, avocado and lettuce, there are multiple opportunities to contaminate, cross-contaminate and make people sick.
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Take, for example, a major outbreak of Hepatitis A in Florida in December, 2000. Officials at the Lake County Health Department learned that seven people were sick, and five were hospitalized with Hepatitis A, all in a two-week span. State and local officials identified the toxin and questioned each of the patients, including family members and friends who were not so sick. Eventually, officials identified 78 people sickened in five eastern states. In the Florida case, most of the sick people had eaten at a Taco Bell restaurant in Fruitland Park. Further inquiry narrowed the possibilities down to six menu items and eight ingredients, and only two of those items had been eaten by a majority of the sick people. Eventually, they zeroed in on the green onions as the most likely cause. But, given the fact that nearly every menu item in a Taco Bell has nearly the same ingredients, how do you really know what ingredient was contaminated?
My point: Tacos can be dangerous. The ingredients – meat and lettuce and green onions – come from an array of sources, are handled by so many people and are all tossed into the same products, creating a very muddy trail of evidence. A list of outbreaks below:
| Date | Location | Vendor | Microorganism | Food type |
| Oct 98 | WA | Finley School | E. coli O157:H7 | Taco Meal |
| Aug 00 | TN | San Antonio | Salmonella | Unknown |
| Oct 00 | CA | Viva Mexico | Shigella | Salsa |
| Feb 02 | IL | Laredo | Salmonella | Employee |
| Aug 03 | TX | Cheese | LIsteria | Cheese |
| Aug 03 | MO | Habaneros | E. coli O157:H7 | Salsa |
| Nov 03 | PA | Chi-Chi's | Hepatitis A | Onions |
| Sep 05 | CA | La Golondrina | Hepatitis A | Lettuce? |
| Jun 06 | OH | La Fiesta | Norovirus | Employee |
| Nov 06 | Several | Taco Bell | E. coli O157:H7 | Lettuce? |
| Nov 06 | Several | Taco Johns | E. coli O157:H7 | Lettuce |
| Jan 07 | AU | Mex Express | Botulism | Cheese |
| Jan 07 | OR | Sergio's Dos | Norovirus | Unknown |
| Mar 07 | IL | El Paso | Salmonella | Cheese |
| Jul 07 | AL | Little Rosie's | E. coli O157:H7 | Lettuce |
And there have been more - In October 2007, Tortilla Flat was the scene of a Norovirus outbreak and just a few days ago, Carniceria Y Taqueria served Salmonella-Tainted Tacos in North Carolina. Buenos Noches. Thanks to my friends at K-State (who bring you BARFBLOG) for providing a "bite" of the history of the "terrible tacos."
We were provided today with the report prepared by “The California Food Emergency Response Team (CalFERT).” The “Executive Summary” in part reads:
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On December 13, 2006 the Office of Emergency Operations of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted both the San Francisco District Office and the Emergency Response Unit of the California Department of Public Health Food and Drug Branch (FDB) of an emerging outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 illness associated with eating at Taco Bell restaurants and the identification of iceberg lettuce as the most likely food vehicle.
Interestingly, the CDC in its report posted on its website on December 14, 2006 seems to link lettuce only slightly more that other ingredients found in Taco Bells:
CDC is working with state and local health officials, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the restaurant chain to determine what food caused the outbreak. These investigations include an ongoing investigation that involves interviews of ill and well Taco Bell restaurant patrons about what food items they consumed. These food items include a variety of different ingredients…. Public health investigators have identified a few ingredients that were consumed more often by ill persons than well persons and were statistically linked with illness: lettuce, cheddar cheese, and ground beef…. Evaluation of all these data indicates that shredded lettuce consumed at Taco Bell restaurants in the northeastern United States was the most likely source of the outbreak….
The CalFERT Report continues:
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FDA conducted traceback investigations from four Taco Bell restaurants in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. These restaurants were selected as representative of the Taco Bell restaurants implicated by public health officials. All four restaurants received shipments of commingled shredded lettuce that originated from both Tanimura & Antle, Inc. (T&A) and Garcia and Church Farms (C&C, shipping as Church Brothers, LLC) in Huron, CA. At the time of the initial farm investigation, 13 T&A fields were identified by FDA as possible sources of lettuce served at implicated restaurants during the time period between October 12, 2006 and December 4, 2006. Subsequently, FDA identified one field (of the original 13) owned by T&A and three fields farmed by G&C as most likely to have supplied suspect lettuce during the time period of exposure at the four restaurants in the traceback (between November 15, 2006 and December 2, 2006). CalFERT investigators reviewed documents supplied by Taco Bell Corporation, Ready Pac Produce, Inc. (a processor), and the implicated growers and determined that two additional fields (from the original 13 T&A fields) supplied lettuce during this time period to the four restaurants. Farm investigations involved 16 fields, with a focus on the six fields identified as most likely to have supplied the implicated lettuce.
The traceback to the the Tanimura & Antle fields as well as those of Garcia and Church Farms did not find E. coli O157:H7 in the implicated fields. This in combination with the CDC's finding that:
Public health investigators have identified a few ingredients that were consumed more often by ill persons than well persons and were statistically linked with illness: lettuce, cheddar cheese, and ground beef…. Evaluation of all these data indicates that shredded lettuce consumed at Taco Bell restaurants in the northeastern United States was the most likely source of the outbreak….
Makes me wonder if lettuce really is the actual source or vector of the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak. So far we have resolved all but one of our client's cases stemming from this outbreak. See full CalFERT Report here:
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I read the headline of Julie Schmit’s article in USA TODAY and had the overwhelming desire to say “duhh!” as my 15-year-old often says of me to me. I then read further:.jpg)
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Toss out your Totino pizza
If you have a Totino's frozen pizza in your refrigerator, throw it out because it could be contaminated with a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria.
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As of November 1st, at least 21 isolates of E. coli O157:H7 with an indistinguishable genetic fingerprint have been collected from ill persons in 10 states: Illinois (1 person), Kentucky (3), Missouri (2), New York (2), Ohio (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Tennessee (8), Virginia (1), and Wisconsin (1). Persons became ill between July 20, 2007, and October 10, 2007. The age of ill persons ranges from 1 to 65 years with a median age of 9; 53% of ill persons are female. At least 8 people have been hospitalized, and 4 have developed a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic-uremic syndrome, or HUS.
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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?
I leave in the morning (a few hours away actually) to NYC in part to meet several new clients from the Topps E. coli outbreak, but also to meet with representatives of YUM Brands to try and resolve several E. coli cases stemming from the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak of 2006. Interestingly, today, YUM Brands outlined its third-quarter financials:
The domestic division of YUM Brands has been struggling. In the company's third quarter, U.S. profit grew only 1 percent. Even worse, same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, dropped 6 percent at Taco Bell. Much of the problem rests with the Mexican fast food chain, which is still reeling from an E. coli outbreak last year and publicity related to a rat infestation in a KFC/Taco Bell New York City restaurant in February.
The company says its U.S. business is starting to turn around and sees signs of a recovery at Taco Bell. "With each month that passes, those memories tend to fade from the consumers' minds," says Morningstar analyst John Owens.
Hopefully, we will be able to resolve all the cases without the necessity of further litigation. There is nothing like a little litigation to help folks remember things - perhaps we can re-run the famous YouTube video shot in NYC:
Hi, just wanted to tell you I saw your picture and article in the November issue of the Prairie Farmer. Yes, it would be nice to put you out of business, but it is still good to know there is someone fighting for the little guy when it comes to food that makes someone so sick or dead.I have also been handling emails and phone calls (between kids soccer games, a swim meet and basketball practice) from people who believe that they may have been sickened by the Pizza. We have been ordering Health Department records to see if these illnesses are linked to the nationwide E. coli recall.
The specific products in the recall listed by brand, product and SKU number include:
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.
1936 - Beef processor Excel Packing Company is formed in Chicago.jpg)
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
About 5 million Totino's and Jeno's frozen pizzas with pepperoni are being recalled. The pepperoni may be contaminated with E. coli. Millions of frozen pizzas are being recalled but today we found them still for sale at stores here in Memphis. We went to a few different grocery stores and found a Totino’s pepperoni pizza still in the freezer at the Save-A-Lot at Jackson and Decatur. We went back into the store to talk to the manager and ask why. He says he thought he had pulled all of them this morning, but must have not seen that one. The manager says he was actually the one who was proactive about pulling these pizzas this morning, after he heard about the recall. He says Save-A-Lot corporate did not send any notice to his store, and he really did think he had gotten them all out.We have a silly system of food safety in this country. There should not be poisoned pizzas available for sale.
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According to the General Mills website, it is the “sixth largest food company in the world." It is also a Fortune 500 company with headquarters in Minnesota, with revenues for 2007 estimated to be nearly $12,500,000,000. On today's news of poisoned pizzas, General Mills shares were down $1.08, or 1.87 percent, at $56.65 on the New York Stock Exchange.
According the the CDC, the earliest case was reported on July 20, and the latest was reported on October 10. The ten states reporting illness are, Illinois (1), Kentucky (3), Missouri (2), New York (2), Ohio (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Tennessee (8), Virginia (1), and Wisconsin (1). Still no announcement by General Mills that it will take care of the victims by paying medical bills and wage loss.
The following products are subject to recall:
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.
Jeff Gold, AP Business Writer in New Jersey, has continued to dig into the complete failure of the “voluntary recall” system to get this E. coli - contaminated Topps hamburger off store shelves. I posted nearly a week ago when reports first surfaced that the product was still being sold a month after Topps issued a recall (and went out of business). So, who is responsible for removing E. coli – contaminated meat off store shelves? Mr. Gold’s story:
State inspectors find more recalled meat at New Jersey stores
Meat recalled a month ago that could be contaminated with a potentially fatal bacteria was found in seven northern New Jersey stores, state consumer safety officials said Tuesday. Inspectors in the past week have seized 138 boxes of frozen hamburgers made by Topps Meat Co., which issued a nationwide recall on Sept. 29 for 21.7 million pounds of frozen patties.
Greater New York Frozen Food Distribution Co. Inc., of New York, was subpoenaed last week. A spokesman for the company said Tuesday that no meat was delivered after the recall. "The meat was delivered before the recall, on Sept. 10," spokesman Frank Conner said. "We are one of many companies that delivered the meat before the recall. We stopped delivering the meat as soon as we heard about the recall. We have no control over what a grocery store owner does with his stock."
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"Recall," that it has been reported that there are at least three "genetic fingerprints" of E. coli O157:H7 (potentially meaning that the contamination at Topps came from multiple sources - at least three) that has been found in ill people and in left over product. One of those fingerprints was found in a Canadian Meat Plant (now also in bankruptcy) that was the source of both meat to Topps and to the death of one Canadian and the sickening of 44 others this past summer. It will be interesting if the paperwork and grinding records at Topps allows for the "traceback" of all genetic fingerprints to the source.
I had a nice chat with Neil Waugh of the Edmonton Sun yesterday about the twisted trail of E. coli from Canada. I am hurt (not really) that he called me a “legal vulture.”
Fallout from 'dirty' Alberta beef plant felt on both sides of the border
According to Mr. Waugh:
Ranchers Beef Ltd. of Balzac collapsed on Aug.15 after company president Tony Martinez reported in a court affidavit that his outfit was "in the midst of a severe liquidity crisis". In other words it was broke. And likely would have stayed that way if the United States Department of Agriculture hadn't blown the whistle on what Ranchers and the feds' controversial Canadian Food Inspection Agency were doing - or apparently NOT doing -last summer. Which might or might not have resulted in the death of "one elderly individual" from E. coli poisoning, another 44 cases in Canada, plus 40 cases with 26 "known hospitalizations" as of last Friday in the U.S.
The above is shocking, however, here is the most ominous part, Ranchers was funded in large part by the Canadian Government:
The company business plan was "developed in the wake of the 2003 BSE crisis," Martinez told the court, as a result of the "near decimation" of the Canadian cattle industry when the U.S. border was closed. And it wasn't just a brainwave of 45 unidentified ranchers plus Sunterra Foods and Picture Butte feedlot kingpin Cor Van Raay. In an attempt to "ameliorate the reliance" on U.S. markets, the Alberta and federal governments "developed policies to encourage construction of Canadian-based meat processing facilities." The feasibility study costs were split between the partners and the Alberta Tories. Then the taxpayers' grease really started to roll. There was a $46.5-million loan from Alberta Treasury Branches, the feds' Business Development Bank and the National Bank of Canada. A $20-million "credit enhancement" from the federal ag department added to the taxpayers' exposure. The Alberta Agricultural Financial Services also kicked in $9.35 million in "credit facilities" so investors could "purchase" company preferred shares.
Now Mr. Waugh tries to hurt my feelings (assuming I actually have any):
And now there are legal vultures hovering over the border planning on following the DNA fingerprints all the way back to the Alberta Tories and their BSE Bingo boondoggle. "We will clearly have to look at additional assets," said Seattle lawyer Bill Marler, who has already filed a class-action suit against Topps. "We're going upstream looking at who supplied the meat," said Marler, who has already collected more than $250 million in food poisoning litigation. "Who owns them and what's their backing."
Hey, do I get to wear a wig when I go to Canada?
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I’m a bit confused. Yesterday it was reported that Ranchers Beef Ltd (now out of business) was both the source of an E. coli outbreak in the United States that had sickened at least 40 tied to the consumption of Topps Meat (also out of business) AND 44 ill persons and 1 death in Canada. See, "Topps story continues to grow more ominous." Now the Ottawa Government releases this press statement:
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the various beef products described below because these products may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. The affected products are being recalled as a result of the CFIA’s investigation and traceback conducted on contaminated beef involving Ranchers Beef Ltd. (Establishment 630), Balzac, Alberta. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.
This does seem to contradict the press release from the same government entity just the day before:
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) are currently investigating possible linkages between E. coli cases that occurred earlier this summer in Canada. The investigation is examining 45 cases of E. coli O157:H7 that were found in New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia. These cases were previously reported from July to September, 2007. As a result of these cases, eleven people were hospitalized and one elderly individual died.
However, according to the USA FSIS, there seems to be a “genetic link” to both the 40 people ill from the Topps outbreak and the 44 people ill and 1 death in Canada:
On October 25, the CFIA provided FSIS with PFGE patterns, or DNA fingerprints, from tests of beef trim from a Canadian firm, Ranchers Beef, Ltd., Canadian establishment number 630. This firm provided trim to the Topps Meat Company. While the firm, which had been located in Balzac, Alberta, ceased operations on August 15, 2007, some product remained in storage and was collected and tested by CFIA as part of the joint investigation of the Topps recall and as part of CFIA's own investigation into 45 illnesses in Canada from E. coli O157:H7.
It is hard to imagine that our USDA/FSIS might be more competent that its Canadian counterpart.
Remember, according the New Jersey AP, Topps products revealed three different E. coli O157:H7 genetic "fingerprints," according to Kenneth Petersen, an assistant administrator at the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. This means that although one of these fingerprints has been traced to Ranchers Beef, Ltd., in Canada, it will be interesting to see if we can track the other fingerprints to the source - Tyson, IBP, Cargill, others? It will also be interesting to get legal jurisdiction over out of country corporations.
Also, recall the report from the New York Times, revealed that Topps sourced a significant amount of beef trimmings from countries like Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Uruguay – countries that FSIS has required little E. coli O157:H7 testing. Will FSIS change this rule too soon?
So, FSIS has limited requirements that out of country producers test for E. coli. And, we have learned during the Topps recall that Topps had cut back on its testing for E. coli. It will be interesting to see if other meat companies have been doing the same. Perhaps more testing at the retail (grocer store) would be helpful in tracking this ugly bug? According to the FSIS website, “the agency still collects some samples from retail stores, but normally only when the retail store actually produces raw ground beef using trimmings from a cutting/boning operation conducted at the store.” Perhaps it or someone should do more retail testing?
I also think we need to look at several other reasons for the spike in E. coli illnesses and recalls (in addition to testing product), such as: 1) has the make-up of workers in slaughter plants changed in 2007? Do we have less experienced workers? 2) has cattle feed in 2007 changed significantly to allow greater growth of E. coli O157:H7? 3) has global warming impacted the ecology of E. coli O157:H7? Other ideas?
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"It was a typical, last day of summer camp -- water balloons, face painting, cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Didn't think anything of it. About three days later, she came down with what seemed to be a stomach virus," said Catherine Basila-McDonald.Catherine and Robert McDonald thought it was a stomach virus. But when their 8-year-old daughter's symptoms got worse -- stomach cramps, slight fever and diarrhea -- they took her to St. Peter's Hospital. Tests later showed E. coli was to blame. Her strain was a perfect match for those found in Topps Meat Company beef patties. The first detected in the state, she said it triggered the intense testing and recall.
"As a parent you're always worried about our child. It was an accident. It's terrible to be with your child in incredible pain and not know what you can do and not be able to to anything," said Basila-McDonald.
Basila-McDonald said, "We're saying to Topps, clean up your act because E. coli can happen, it can happen. But now that we're hearing that the factories are not living up to the safety codes and had to be shut down, then it's not just a random occurrence."I am proud that the McDonalds had the courage to stand up for their daughter and to brave the gaggle of reporters camped out in front of their home. More coverage of the story:
Suit sounds alarm on tainted meatNorth Colonie family claims girl's illness linked to Topps hamburger, says legal action a warning for others
Bill Marler, food safety advocate and E. coli attorney, whose Seattle law firm, Marler Clark, has been contacted by five victims of the E. coli outbreak traced to the Topps 21,700,000 pound hamburger recall, called today on Topps to pay the medical bills and lost wages of all individuals who became ill with E. coli infections as part of the outbreak. “We know that at least twenty-five people became ill with E. coli infections after eating Topps hamburger.” Marler said. “The cost of treating victims of E. coli infections can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, or in a severe case, even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Marler continued. “These families need Topps to do more than promise to cooperate in the investigation into this outbreak. They need to know that Topps intends to fulfill its corporate responsibility by looking out for its customers.”
Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations companies such as Chi-Chi’s, Dole, Jack in the Box, Con Agra, Odwalla and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.
Since the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak in 1993, Bill Marler has represented thousands of E. coli victims against corporations such as AFG, Bauer Meats, BJ's Wholesale Club, Byerly's, ConAgra, Cub Foods, Dole, Emmpak, Excel, Finley School District, Fresno Meat market, Gold Coast Produce, Habaneros, Interstate Meats, Jack in the Box, Karl Ehmer, Kentucky Fried Chicken, King Garden, Lunds, McDonalds, Odwalla, Natural Selections, Olive Garden, Peninsula Village, Pat & Oscar's, PM Beef Holdings, Sam's Club, Sizzler, Spokane Produce, Sodexho, Supervalu, Taco Bell, Taco John's, Topps, United Food Group (UFG), Walmart and Wendy's. Total recoveries on behalf of victims are in excess of $300,000,000.
Several times a month Bill, through the non-profit outbreakinc, speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses. He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and safety on marlerblog. Bill also sponsors several websites related to E. coli, including about-ecoli, about-hus and ecoliblog.
In June in an Op-ed I warned about the increasing recalls and illnesses tied to E. coli-tainted hamburger and red meat. Now, according to a press release by Topps:
Topps Meat Company LLC, located in Elizabeth, NJ, has voluntarily expanded its recall announced on September 25 to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. This represents all products produced by Topps with a "sell by date" or "best if used by date" that falls between September 25, 2007 and September 25, 2008. This information may be found on the back panel of the package. All recalled products will have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and/or in the USDA legend.
This recall tops the Con Agra recall of 19,000,000 pounds in 2002 that sickened over forty and killed one and is just under the 25,000,000 pounds recalled by now-bankrupt Hudson Foods in 1997.
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As of Friday afternoon, we had been contacted by 4 of the 21 confirmed victims of this most recent Topps E. coli problem. As some may know this is not the first time Topps product has been implicated in an E. coli illness. Again, this recall is just a huge example of an increasing problem with ground meat in the USA - prior recalls in 2007 include:
1. A federal consumer alert was issued by FSIS for meat products sold under the brand name “Northwest Finest” after six people in Washington, two people in Oregon and one in Idaho became sick from E. coli O157:H7. The organic beef was ground by Interstate Meat, a national meat wholesaler, located in Clackamas, Oregon. 42,000 pounds of meat was recalled.
2. At least thirteen people have been confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating ground beef produced by United Food Group sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Montana. Over 5,700,000 pound of meat have been recalled.
3. Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. recalled 40,440 pounds of ground beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. No illnesses yet reported.
4. Seven Minnesotans were confirmed as part of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that prompted PM Beef Holdings to recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products that was ground and sold at Lunds and Byerly’s stores.
5. Twenty-seven people have been confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Fresno County. The Fresno County Department of Community Health inspected the “Meat Market” in Northwest Fresno, the source of the outbreak.
6. At least two people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Michigan after eating ground beef produced by Davis Creek Meats and Seafood of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The E. coli outbreak prompted Davis Creek Meats and Seafood to recall approximately 129,000 pounds of beef products that were distributed in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
7. Following reports of three Napa Valley children who became sick from hamburger patties sold at a St. Helena Little League snack shack, 100,000 pounds of hamburger (that was a year old) was recalled.
8. Several people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Pennsylvania after eating E. coli-contaminated meat products at Hoss’s Family Steak and Sea Restaurants, a Pennsylvania-based restaurant chain that purchased its meat from HFX, Inc., of South Claysburg, Pennsylvania. As a result of the outbreak, HFX recalled approximately 4,900 pounds of meat products.
The products subject to the Topps original and expanded recall include:
10-pound boxes of "BUTCHER'S BEST 100% ALL BEEF PATTIES 75/25, 4 OZ (4-1), 40 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "BUTCHER'S BEST 100% ALL BEEF PATTIES 75/25, 6 OZ FLAT, 27 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "KOHLER FOODS 4 OZ FLAT HAMBURGER, CODE: 60100, 40 PCS." -- 10-pound boxes of "KOHLER FOODS 6 OZ FLAT HAMBURGER, CODE: 60200, 27 PCS." -- 10-pound boxes of "KOHLER FOODS 8 OZ FLAT HAMBURGER, CODE: 60300, 20 PCS." -- 3-pound boxes of "MIKE'S 12 SEASONED BEEF PATTIES." -- 5-pound boxes of "MIKE'S 20 SEASONED BEEF PATTIES." -- 3-pound boxes of "PATHMARK 100% ALL BEEF BURGERS, 16 BEEF BURGERS." -- 5-pound boxes of "PATHMARK 100% ALL BEEF BURGERS, 20 BEEF BURGERS." -- 10-pound boxes of "PATHMARK 100% ALL BEEF BURGERS, 40 BEEF BURGERS." -- 10-pound boxes of "RASTELLI'S FINE FOODS 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 10 OZ H, 16 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "RASTELLI'S FINE FOODS 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 3.2 OZ, 50 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "RASTELLI'S FINE FOODS 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 4 OZ, 40 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "RASTELLI'S FINE FOODS 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 6 OZ FLAT, 27 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "RASTELLI'S FINE FOODS 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 8 OZ FLAT, 20 COUNT." -- 10 pound boxes of RASTELLI'S FINE FOODS 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (85/15), 6 OZ, FLAT 27 COUNT. -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 2 OZ, 80 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 3.2 OZ, 50 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 4 OZ, 40 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 5 OZ, 32 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 5.3 OZ, 30 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ, 27 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 7 OZ, 23 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 8 OZ FLAT, 20 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 8 OZ H, 20 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "ROMA - TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 10 OZ H, 16 PIECES." -- 3-pound bags of "SAM'S CHOICE BACKYARD GOURMET BEEF BURGERS, 75/25, 12 QUARTER POUND ROUND PATTIES." -- 6-pound bags of "SAM'S CHOICE BACKYARD GOURMET BEEF BURGERS, 75/25, 24 QUARTER POUND ROUND PATTIES." -- 3-pound bags of "SAM'S CHOICE BACKYARD GOURMET BEEF BURGERS, 80/20, 12 QUARTER POUND ROUND PATTIES." -- 3-pound bags of "SAM'S CHOICE BACKYARD GOURMET BEEF BURGERS, 85/15, 12 QUARTER POUND ROUND PATTIES." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (75/25), 8 OZ FLAT, 20 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 4 OZ, 40 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 6 OZ, 27 COUNT. -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (80/20), 8 OZ FLAT, 20 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (85/15), 3.2 OZ, 50 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (85/15), 4 OZ, 40 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (85/15), 6 OZ FLAT, 27 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGER (85/15), 10 OZ H, 16 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT ANGUS CHUCK BURGER (80/20), 8 OZ FLAT, 20 COUNT." -- 3-pound boxes of "SHOP RITE 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 16 3 OZ BURGERS." -- 3-pound boxes of "SHOP RITE 100% PURE QUARTER POUND GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS." -- 5-pound boxes of "SHOP RITE 100% PURE QUARTER POUND GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS." -- 10-pound boxes of "SHOP RITE 100% PURE QUARTER POUND GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 1 OZ SLIDER." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 10 OZ (PUB BURGER)." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 2 OZ." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 2.67 OZ." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 3 OZ HOMESTYLE." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 4 OZ." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGERS, 4 OZ (4-1) HOMESTYLE." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 4 OZ FLAT." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 5 OZ, 32 PIECES." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGERS 5 OZ (1/2-inch)" -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ (5/8-inch)." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ (85/15)." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ (HOMESTYLE)." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ (PUB BURGER)." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 7 OZ." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 7 OZ (75/25)." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 8 OZ FLAT." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGERS, 8 OZ (PUB BURGER)" -- 1.5-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 3 OZ (8 COUNT)." -- 2-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 3 OZ, 10 COUNT." -- 3-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 6 OZ. PUB BURGERS." -- 2-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 8 QUARTER POUNDERS." -- 3-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 12 QUARTER POUNDERS." -- 3-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 16 HAMBURGERS." -- 5-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 20 QUARTER POUNDERS." -- 8-pound boxes of "TOPPS 100% PURE GROUND BEEF HAMBURGERS, 32 QUARTER POUNDERS." -- 2-pound boxes of "TOPPS SIRLOIN STEAK BURGERS WITH FIRE-ROASTED ONIONS, 6 1/3 LB. HOMESTYLE BURGERS." -- 2-pound boxes of "TOPPS SIRLOIN STEAK BURGERS WITH PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS, 6 1/3 LB. HOMESTYLE BURGERS." -- 2-pound boxes of "TOPPS SIRLOIN STEAK BURGERS, 6 1/3 LB. HOMESTYLE BURGERS." -- 10-pound boxes of "TOPPS HAMBURGERS, 3.2 OZ, 50 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WEST SIDE 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 3 OZ, 53 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WEST SIDE 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 3.2 OZ, 50 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WEST SIDE 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 4 OZ, 40 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WESTSIDE, 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 5 OZ FLAT, 32 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WEST SIDE 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ, 27 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WESTSIDE, 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 6 OZ FLAT, 27 COUNT." -- 10-pound boxes of "WESTSIDE, 100% PREMIUM HAMBURGER, 8 OZ FLAT, 20 COUNT."
Health officials suspect another Eight
Matthew Ralph of the News and Tribune has continued to follow this story:
The number of laboratory-confirmed E. coli cases has reached eight with another eight suspected all from the same group of cases linked to Galena Elementary, health officials said Friday. Dr. Tom Harris, Floyd County health officer, said one of the new cases was an adult connected to Galena, but would not say whether it was a parent or a teacher. He said the additional cases likely received the infection from the first group of E. coli-infected children, but remained optimistic that the outbreak has been contained. The incubation period of the infection is typically up to 10 days.
It will be interesting to see if the outbreak will be tied to food or water served at the school like the Finley outbreak or if it is person to person contact at the school.
Dick Kaukas of the The Courier-Journal has written - 8th case of E. coli reported in Floyd
Cause of outbreak still undetermined
According the Courier-Journal, the number of confirmed E. coli cases in Floyd County has risen to eight, and one of eight probable cases is expected to be confirmed, the county's chief medical officer said yesterday. Health investigators are continuing to search for the cause of the outbreak, Dr. Tom Harris said at a late-afternoon news conference.
"Unfortunately, this isn't TV," he said. "We won't have the answer in an hour or two hours. This is detective work. It takes time."
Now that secondary cases (likely person to person) are happening, I assume health officials will work overtime to get to the bottom of this outbreak - seems like a rewrite of Finley.
MSNBC and AP reports:
USDA finds that Topps’ plant has inadequate safety measures
Federal inspectors said Friday that they suspended the grinding of raw products at the Topps Meat Co. after finding inadequate safety measures at the plant, which is being investigated because of E. coli bacteria-tainted hamburgers that may have sickened 25 people. U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Amanda Eamich said the suspension follows a safety assessment at the Elizabeth-based company, which this week voluntarily recalled nearly 332,000 pounds (150,594 kilos) of frozen ground beef products.
I tried to take a day off and get in touch with my “inner outdoorsman” by hunting gators and ducks in Southwest Texas, but E. coli O157:H7 would not leave me alone.
Twenty-one people in New York, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania now have become ill after eating hamburgers contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria that were made by a Elizabeth, New Jersey -based Topps Meat Company. As I blogged about yesterday, this is not the first time that Topps has been implicated with E. coli-related illnesses. Just a month ago we resolved a severe Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome case with Topps and its insurer for an undisclosed amount. One would think after nearly killing one child they would be far more careful.
On top of that, E. coli illnesses and outbreaks are becoming an all too common occurrence in 2007. A few examples:
1. At least thirteen people have been confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating ground beef produced by United Food Group sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Montana. Over 5,700,000 pound of meat have been recalled.
2. Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. recalled 40,440 pounds of ground beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. No illnesses yet reported.
3. Seven Minnesotans were confirmed as part of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that prompted PM Beef Holdings to recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products that was ground and sold at Lunds and Byerly’s stores.
4. Twenty-seven people have been confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Fresno County. The Fresno County Department of Community Health inspected the “Meat Market” in Northwest Fresno, the source of the outbreak.
5. At least two people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Michigan after eating ground beef produced by Davis Creek Meats and Seafood of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The E. coli outbreak prompted Davis Creek Meats and Seafood to recall approximately 129,000 pounds of beef products that were distributed in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
6. Following reports of three Napa Valley children who became sick from hamburger patties sold at a St. Helena Little League snack shack, 100,000 pounds of hamburger (that was a year old) was recalled.
7. Several people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Pennsylvania after eating E. coli-contaminated meat products at Hoss’s Family Steak and Sea Restaurants, a Pennsylvania-based restaurant chain that purchased its meat from HFX, Inc., of South Claysburg, Pennsylvania. As a result of the outbreak, HFX recalled approximately 4,900 pounds of meat products.
A lawyer's nightmare, guns, a "four-wheeler" and beer - THE VIDEO
I have spent the last two days in Houston at the top of the below tower (AIG Insurance Tower) meeting with lawyers in the Con Agra Peanut Butter Litigation. Frankly, there are so many lawyers involved, with so many different agendas, that people are losing sight of the fact that this was a major outbreak with tens of thousands of people sickened. I had the opportunity to give an opening presentation, which you can find HERE. The two videos are a bit too large to post so you might see a few blank slides.
So, while lawyers are spinning our wheels, Topps Meat Company, LLC, an Elizabeth, NJ, establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 331,582 pounds of frozen ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.
10-pound boxes of “BUTCHER’S BEST 100% ALL BEEF PATTIES 75/25, 6 OZ. FLAT, 27 PIECES.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 23 08.”
10-pound boxes of “BUTCHER’S BEST 100% ALL BEEF PATTIES 75/25, 4 OZ. (4-1), 40 PIECES.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 23 08.”
10-pound boxes of “KOHLER FOODS 4 OZ. FLAT HAMBURGER, CODE: 60100, 40 PCS.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 23 08.”
10-pound boxes of “KOHLER FOODS 6 OZ. FLAT HAMBURGER, CODE: 60200, 27 PCS.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 23 08.”
10-pound boxes of “KOHLER FOODS 8 OZ. FLAT HAMBURGER, CODE: 60300, 20 PCS.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 23 08.”
10-pound boxes of “SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT, 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGERS 80/20, 8 OZ. FLAT, 20 COUNT.” Each box bears a packed-on date of “JUN 22 07.”
10-pound boxes of “SAND CASTLE FINE MEAT, 100% PREMIUM BEEF HAMBURGERS 85/15, 6 OZ. FLAT, 27 COUNT.” Each box bears a packed-on date of “JUN 22 07.”
2-pound boxes of “Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers, 8 Quarter Pounders.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 12 08.”
2-pound boxes of “Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers, 3 OZ., 10 COUNT.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUL 12 08.”
3-pound boxes of “Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers, 6 OZ. PUB Burgers.” Each box bears a sell-by date of “JUN 22 08.”
Each package also bears the establishment number “Est. 9748” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The frozen ground beef products were produced on June 22, July 12 or July 23 and were distributed to food service institutions in the New York metropolitan area and to retail establishments nationwide. An investigation into a cluster of illnesses in the Northeast region carried out by the New York State Department of Health in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led to a positive product sample collected by the New York Department of Health.
The Effingham County Health Department is investigating several cases of E. coli.
The health department says it has six confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7. They are all linked to eating at El Rancherito restaurant in Effingham at I-57 and I-70. The health department says the restaurant is cooperating and has been closed since Thursday. The people affected ate there between September 11th and the 13th. Their illnesses started between the 14th and 17th. No word on their conditions.
I just landed in Houston, Texas an hour ago. The plan is to have meetings this week with lawyers involved in the Peanut Butter litigation. I know, eventually I will have to stop talk about my China trip, but, I thought I would share one more photo from the conference:
Had dinner with some famous Houston and Louisiana trial lawyers (and one nice Jewish lawyer from Florida).
According to a press released sent by Dole this evening, this product was sold in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces in Canada and in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and neighboring states in the U.S, - whatever that means. Here is a report from the Associated Press of a few days ago:
A year after the E. coli outbreak, Ag industry chastened and changed
Well, I made it back from China this morning only to find the following alert in my email:
OTTAWA, September 16, 2007 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts) described below because this product may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.
The affected product, Dole brand Hearts Delight lettuce salad (Ready to eat blend of romaine, green leaf & butter lettuce hearts), produce of USA, is sold in 227 g packages bearing BIUB (Best If Used By) date 07SE19 and lot code A24924B. This product may have been distributed nationally.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.
Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this bacteria may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses. Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Some people may have seizures or strokes and some may need blood transfusions and kidney dialysis. Others may live with permanent kidney damage. In severe cases of illness, people may die.
The CFIA is working with the importers to have the affected product removed from the marketplace. The CFIA will be monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.
And we thought China had a food safety issue.
According to CNN Money: Warehouse club operator pulls items from shelves after routine testing
BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. said Tuesday it was recalling packages of fresh mushrooms after it a routine inspection revealed the possible presence of the deadly bacteria E. coli. The warehouse club operator said the products affected were Wellsley Farms brand fresh mushrooms purchased between February 11 and February 19, 2007. The company, which had not received any reports of illness, said it had removed all the potentially affected products from its shelves as a precaution.
Over 200 sickened and at least 4 deaths are attributed to eating E. coli contaminated spinach. Now we are seeing the results as consumers turn away from a product that the Spinach/Lettuce industry could have made safer.
Salad plant will close after spinach scare; 200 out of job (Associated Press)
A northern Indiana salad-processing plant with about 200 workers is being closed because of what its owner said is a troubled food industry after the nationwide spinach recall stemming from an E. coli outbreak.
Spinach recall tips broker into Chapter 11 (Orlando Sentinel)
A small Brevard County produce broker that is the chief supplier of bagged spinach to the U.S. military has filed for bankruptcy protection, claiming the recent massive recall of the leafy green crippled its business.
Some other interesting facts:
Three-quarters of all domestically grown spinach is harvested in California. Last year's spinach crop in California was valued at $258.3 million. The spinach recall has cost farmers and processors up to $50 million in lost revenue, the Produce Marketing Association estimates. That figure does not include losses to brokers.
This article at the Monterey Herald gives a comprehensive assessment on the problems faced by the lettuce and spinach industry of Salinas over the next year - a solution needs to be found.
From the article:
Bill Marler, a partner in the Seattle law firm Marler Clark, who has represented victims in high-profile foodborne illness lawsuits against Odwalla and Jack in the Box, said he doesn't think San Juan Bautista-based Natural Selection has enough insurance to cover victims' claims, which he estimates at more than $100 million.
The result, Marler said, is that Dole -- for whom Natural Selection processed and packaged spinach and whose bagged spinach has been the only brand to which investigators have traced the E. coli strain -- will eventually have to cover some claims.
"The problem for Natural Selection," he said, "is for every dollar Dole pays, they are going to want it out of Natural Selection's hide."
To protect themselves from paying back Dole, Marler predicts that Natural Selection -- parent company of Earthbound Farm, the largest grower-shipper of organic produce in the country -- will need to file for bankruptcy.
Listen to this story...
NPR - News & Notes, October 13, 2006
Spinach, tainted by E. coli bacteria, has reportedly made about 200 people in two dozen states sick. At least three people are said to have died from the outbreak. Lawmakers and advocates are demanding federal authorities do more to eliminate the contamination. Farai Chideya talks to William Marler, a Seattle attorney representing more than 90 people affected by the outbreak and Marler's client Ken Costello who recently lost his mother-in-law to E. coli poisoning.
According to FREDERIC J. FROMMER of the Associated Press, Federal officials refused to tell Minnesota authorities which of two beef plants were linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak last summer, according to a state report. One woman died and at least 17 people were sickened from the E. coli outbreak in the Longville area, after eating ground beef.
The state report, dated in July, was sent to The Associated Press this week by the Seattle law firm of Marler Clark, which represents victims of food poisoning. Managing partner Bill Marler said his firm is not representing any victims from the Longville area, but may sue the USDA for not providing the information to state authorities. The state health department gave the report to AP on Thursday.
"I suppose it's par for the course for USDA, but I'm shocked that the USDA refused to disclose the name of the plant that had the positive sample, which clearly is the source of the E. coli that poisoned people," Marler said. "The USDA is more concerned with protecting industry than protecting the public health."
FDA Statement on Foodborne E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak in Spinach
Positive Test Results
FDA and the State of California announced today that test results from the field investigation of the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in spinach are positive for E. coli O157:H7. Samples of cattle feces on one of the implicated ranches tested positive based on matching genetic fingerprints for the same strain of E. coli that sickened 199 people. The trace back investigation has narrowed to four implicated fields on four ranches. The outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 from cattle feces was identified on one of these four ranches.
Hopefully, no one will be surprised by this finding - testing of cattle finds E. coli O157:H7 in as much as 28% of ALL cattle depending on the time of year the test is run. In my trip to Salinas last week, I was a bit shocked at how close (and how many) cows were to a "ready-to-eat" product like spinach and lettuce.
More thoughts on yesterday's hearing:
I have concerns despite the 4 deaths and over 200 illnesses that some politicians may simply fiddle while more spinach and lettuce is grown and more customers are sickened and more businesses go bankrupt (watch for that next). Yesterday's hearing was more telling by who did not attend - most of the committee, DOLE, Natural Selection (under FBI investigation), the FDA and the CDC. Frankly, I don't think those that chose to ignore in the need for intervention have a plan to save customers or themselves. See the story in the LA Times by Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writer
A couple of telling quotes:
The hearing was attended by only two senators of the nine-member committee — Florez and Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata). One of the seven "fiddlers" on the committee seemed to make it clear that he rather simply wait for more bodies to be counted:
Why do these guys get paid?
Andrew Weeks of the Standard-Examiner reports that at least five more people, two of them children, have contracted E. coli from an unknown source in Weber County, according to officials from the Weber-Morgan Health Department. No common food source has been linked to the bacteria, though officials say there seem to be no ties to an outbreak that occurred June 27-30, when at least five other people contracted infections, either directly or indirectly, from tainted lettuce served from a North Ogden Wendy’s restaurant.
It will be interesting to follow this story as it unfolds. At least one of the two children mentioned by Mr. Weeks is in fact hospitalized and suffering acute kidney failure (HUS).
It was determined that the June outbreak was caused by iceberg lettuce that likely had been contaminated while grown in the Salinas Valley, Calif. Wendy’s, at 2594 N. 400 East in North Ogden, served lettuce at a CORE Academy luncheon held at Orion Junior High in Harrisville on June 30, where more than 300 people were potentially exposed to the contamination. At least on person was infected during June 27030 while eating at the restaurant.
Although for purposes of the lawsuit that has been filed against Wendy's stemming from the June outbreak, where three people suffered Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, where and when the lettuce was contaminated means little, I do believe that there is not sufficient evidence at this point to rule out that the lettuce became contaminated AFTER it arrived in Utah. Wendy's was implicated in a 2000 outbreak were cross-contamination between raw meat and lettuce was determined to be the source. (See coverage of that 2000 Wendy's E. coli outbreak.)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 76 million - or one out of every four - Americans are sickened as a result of consuming contaminated foods or beverages. Some become seriously ill; 325,000 require hospitalization and 5,000 die. Older adults, young children, and those who have weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable.
More than 250 different foodborne diseases have been identified. Most of these diseases are infections caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
Foods that are contaminated with poisonous chemicals or harmful substances can also cause illness. Symptoms of foodborne illness vary by disease but the most common are nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.
I have some of the symptoms described. Do I have a foodborne illness?
Possibly. For example, scientists estimate that 35% of diarrheal illness is caused by a foodborne pathogen. Diarrhea that is caused by food poisoning usually lasts one week or less. Symptoms that appear suddenly are a sign of foodborne illness, although the last food consumed is not necessarily the cause of illness. Different microbes have different incubation periods. The incubation period refers to the time between ingestion and onset of symptoms.
Incubation Periods of Common Foodborne Pathogens
PATHOGEN INCUBATION PERIOD
Staphylococcus aureus1 to 8 hours, typically 2 to 4 hours.
Campylobacter 2 to 7 days, typically 3 to 5 days.
E. coli O157:H7 1 to 10 days, typically 2 to 5 days.
Salmonella 6 to 72 hours, typically 18-36 hours.
Shigella 12 hours to 7 days, typically 1-3 days.
Hepatitis A 15 to 50 days, typically 25-30 days.
Listeria 3 to 20 days, typically 14 days
Norovirus 24 to 72 hours, typically 36 hours.
How can I find out if I am sick because of something I ate or drank?
Foodborne infections are usually diagnosed by laboratory tests that identify the organism. Bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Shigella, and Campylobacter are found by microbiologic testing of the ill person's stool. Parasites can be identified by examining stool specimens under the microscope. Laboratory testing to detect viruses requires stool specimens or serum derived from blood samples. Many foodborne infections are not detected through routine laboratory procedures and health care providers must order appropriate testing before the cause can be identified.
Should I see a doctor if I think I have a foodborne illness?
A person with symptoms of a foodborne illness should seek prompt medical attention if there is blood in the stools, if they are experiencing prolonged vomiting or show signs of dehydration, if diarrhea last 3 days or more or if diarrhea lasts more than 3 days. Anyone at risk for serious consequences - the very young, the very old, or those with immune impairment - should consult a health care provider if symptoms do not improve after 24 hours.
What else should I do?
If you think you have a foodborne illness contact your local health department. They will ask you questions about your symptoms, when they started, and what you have eaten for several days prior to symptom onset. Because some of the organisms that cause illness can be spread by ways other than food, they will ask you about other potential sources such as contact with others with similar symptoms or exposure to animals. This distinction is important so that public health authorities can if necessary, take steps to stop others from becoming ill.
If you know others who have similar symptoms, urge them to contact the health department. Oftentimes, information compiled from a group of individuals provides clues to the source of illness that can be missed when only one person reports to the health department.
If you suspect that your illness is food related, keep any left over food for possible testing. If laboratory tests show the food was contaminated, you will have powerful evidence that the food is the likely cause of your illness. The health department will advise you about any laboratory tests that should be conducted and how long food should be kept. Similarly, keep retail or restaurant receipts showing that you purchased the suspected food. Receipts often contain valuable pieces of information about a food product that the consumer does not know or cannot recall.
Common myths of foodborne illness
As you attempt to determine if you have a foodborne illness and what the potential source could be, avoid these common misconceptions.
The last thing I ate is what made me sick.
Not necessarily. Refer to the table that shows how long it takes for certain microbes to grow inside your body and cause illness. Write down what you ate, where you ate, and when you ate in as much detail as possible. Health department investigators will ask you for this information and accurate recall is critical.
If other people ate what I ate and did not become ill, that particular meal could not be the source of my illness.
Not necessarily. It is well documented that microbes that cause foodborne illness are not always uniformly distributed in a food item. Also, people have different immune systems. One person may consume hamburger prepared from a package of ground beef and become seriously ill with E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella while his dining companion consumes ground beef from the same package and remains healthy.
A seventh child in central Florida has contracted a life-threatening kidney infection after visiting a petting zoo in Orlando. Five of the seven children were hospitalized in critical condition, including one on dialysis, the Orlando Sentinel reported for Thursday editions. Another had been upgraded to stable condition, said Dr. Mehul Dixit, who is treating some of the children at Florida Hospital Orlando.
One child was treated and released from Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women several weeks ago.
The potentially dangerous kidney condition -- hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS -- is a rare complication arising from an initial infection most commonly associated with E. coli, a bacterium found in undercooked beef or contaminated food.
Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, lethargy, anemia and decreased urine output are all signs of kidney failure.
The hospitalized children all touched animals recently at area fairs, including the Central Florida Fair in Orlando and the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City. They might have been exposed to the bacteria through the animals' feces, officials said.
A rise in the number of Escherichia coli cases requires diligent detection efforts.
By Debby Giusti, MT(ASCP)
Ten-year-old Brianne Kiner spent 40 days in a coma in 1993, while teams of medical personnel worked round-the-clock to keep her alive. Brianne has little memory of the 118 days she was on kidney dialysis or the 80 units of blood she received, nor does she recall the numerous times the doctors told her mother that Brianne wouldn't live through the night. What Brianne does remember is that her hospital ordeal left her with the dubious recognition of being the sickest child in the United States to survive Escherichia coli 0157:H7.
Over a 3-month period, more than 700 children and adults in four states in the northwest became ill after eating at various Jack in the Box restaurants. They suffered severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, often bloody, and close to 200 of the ill had to be hospitalized. Fifty-five cases progressed into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a condition that can lead to kidney failure and even death. Children and the elderly are most at risk for HUS, and in the 1993 outbreak, four children died.
Epidemiologists quickly recognized that those infected had eaten undercooked hamburgers served at more than 90 Jack in the Box restaurants in the four state area.2 The beef shipped to the restaurants was found to be contaminated with E. coli 0157, and to date, the outbreak remains the largest in U.S. history caused by the organism.
In the week of her exposure, Brianne had visited the same Jack in the Box twice, eating a hamburger each time. The double dose no doubt compounded the severity of her case. Some speculate that if the burgers had been cooked only 30 seconds longer, Brianne would not have become ill.
Spending nearly 2 months in the pediatric intensive care unit of Seattle Children's Hospital and Medical Center and a total of 189 days in the hospital, Brianne suffered three strokes, 10,000 seizures and every organ in her body failed. Her initial hospital bill totaled $1.2 million.1 No matter what the cost, her mother calls her daughter's survival a miracle. The medical staff believes Brianne's age helped her win the fight against the terrible pathogen.
Heightened Awareness
Brianne's story and the stories of so many affected by that first major outbreak did much to raise public awareness of the risk of E. coli 0157:H7. Consumers were advised to cook ground beef thoroughly and to use care to prevent cross-contamination of cooking surfaces and utensils. Laboratories began to test for the pathogen, and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated a program to check ground beef. America seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. With proper precautions, future outbreaks could be prevented - or so it seemed.
History
E. coli was first identified in 1885 by German bacteriologist Theodor Escherich. The gram negative rod is a normal enteric organism found in the intestine of both humans and animals. A facultative aerobic, it can be grown both aerobically and anaerobically, and in fact, when aerobic methods are used, E. coli is the dominant organism found in feces.
The organism colonizes the human bowel shortly after birth and usually does not cause disease, but suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria and aids in the synthesis of vitamins. A relatively few strains of E. coli are pathogenic, and of those, enterohemorrhagic E. coli 0157:H7 elicits the most profound response, producing a verotoxin or shiga-like toxin identical to that of Shigella dysenteriae. The toxin attacks the epithelial cells of the intestine and damages the blood vessels, thus producing hemorrhage. The toxin is thought to be the reason some cases develop HUS.
Healthy cattle are the main reservoir of E. coli 0157, although other ruminants, such as sheep and deer, also carry the organism. Even dogs, birds, chickens and pigs have been found to harbor E. coli. The organism is excreted in the feces and can survive for long periods in fecal matter. A remarkably low dosage - from 10 to 100 cells - can cause disease. 5 Thus, anything that comes in contact with cattle dung or manure can be contaminated, such as farm produce, or lakes and streams by runoff water and even buildings that house cattle.
Person-to-person contact is also of concern. The organism is sloughed from the human body for up to 14 days after the onset of diarrhea.6 In 1982, an outbreak of E. coli 0157 in a nursing home in Canada killed 19 residents and proved that the organism can be deadly in institutional settings, such as day care facilities and nursing homes.
Symptoms
Within 9 days of exposure, E. coli 0157:H7 causes hemorrhagic colitis with severe stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. Patients usually have little or no fever and recover in 5 to 10 days.
Children under the age of 5 are highly susceptible to HUS, which is the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States.6 The elderly are also at risk, often developing thrombocytopenia and hemolytic anemia as well as severe renal complications. Of the children affected, 3% to 5% will die, and as many as 30% will have lasting medical problems.8 Dialysis, transfusion of packed cells and platelets may be indicated, and in extreme cases renal transplant may be required.
Antidiarrheal agents such as loperamide (Imodium) have been shown to be associated with an increased risk of HUS, perhaps by prolonging the expulsion of the organism from the intestinal tract and, therefore, increasing toxin absorption.
In 1999, evidence presented at the 35th United States-Japan Cholera and Related Diarrheal Diseases Conference indicated antimicrobials should not be given to children with E. coli infections. The data revealed that 15% of all North American children infected with E. coli 0157 develop HUS, and it appears that antibiotic treatment increases that risk. Bacterial lysis due to antibiotic therapy is thought to cause the release of the toxin in the intestine, making more toxin available for absorption.
Studies are being conducted to evaluate compounds that could be taken orally by patients that would absorb the toxin from the intestine and reduce the incidence of HUS. However, the treatment would have to be given early in the disease, and since it takes 1 to 2 days to diagnose E. coli, the window of opportunity is short.
Birth of a Pathogen
E. coli 0157:H7 was first associated with a sporadic case of hemorrhagic colitis in 1975, and the first outbreaks occurred in 1982. A report in the The New England Journal of Medicine the following year described two bouts of gastrointestinal illness that caused 47 people in Oregon and Michigan to have "severe crampy abdominal pain, initially watery diarrhea followed by grossly bloody diarrhea and little or no fever." Investigators narrowed their search of a cause to beef patties, rehydrated onions and pickles that the patients had eaten at a local fast-food restaurant. Three-fourths of the stool specimens collected were found to contain what the authors termed "a rare Escherichia coli serotype, 0157:H7, that was not invasive or toxigenic by standard tests." The organism was also found in beef from the lot shipped to the restaurant.
That same year, a report in Lancet noted the presence of a shiga-toxin-producing E. coli in the stools of patients with HUS. Both reports led scientists to believe they were dealing with an enteric pathogen that could cause both intestinal and renal disease.
Shortly thereafter, in an attempt to determine whether E. coli 0157 was indeed a newly emerging infectious agent or one that had been previously overlooked owing to testing limitations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reviewed more than 3,000 E. coli strains serotyped from 1973 to 1983 and uncovered only one E. coli 0157:H7 isolate.8 The Public Health Laboratory in the United Kingdom and the Canadian Laboratory Centre for Disease Control conducted similar reviews. The results substantiated the theory that the medical community was dealing with a newly emerging strain of E. coli.
Foodborne Outbreaks
After the Jack in the Box outbreak, E. coli 0157 began to cause disease with surprising regularity. A total of 16 outbreaks were reported in 1993 alone.2 In August 1994, three outbreaks occurred with summer campers who grilled over the open fire and failed to adequately cook their hamburgers. The next year, the New Jersey Department of Health noticed sporadic cases, again due to ground beef.
In addition to undercooked hamburger, cheese curds, nonpasteurized milk and even salami were also associated with outbreaks. By 1995, 33 states had enacted legislation declaring E. coli 0157 a reportable disease. The same year, CDC officially instituted PulseNet, a national network of public health labs that perform pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, a type of "fingerprinting," on foodborne bacteria for surveillance purposes.
In 1996, the pathogen found a new vehicle for transmission. Three-year-old Anna Girand was one of many children who drank nonpasteurized Odwalla apple juice that fall and then developed diarrhea with stomach cramps. But Anna continued to drink the juice when the doctor advised her parents to "push liquids." Eight days after her initial diarrhea, Anna was hospitalized with a diagnosis of E. coli 0157:H7 that progressed to HUS.
Whether the organism was introduced into the juice from dropped apples that fell onto cattle dung or manure or whether the produce had been sprayed with contaminated ground water is not known. But because the juice was not boiled or pasteurized and E. coli 0157:H7 survives in acidic environments, the organism remained viable. More than half of the 70 cases of illness in the Odwalla outbreak were children under the age of 6 years. One child died.
That same fall, two other outbreaks involving nonpasteurized apple cider occurred in Connecticut and New York. While new regulations were slow in coming, eventually the USDA established guidelines monitoring juice production and now requires all nonpasteurized juice to be labeled.
Waterborne Outbreaks
The first reported outbreak of E. coli 0157 transmitted by water in the United States occurred from December 1989 to January 1990. Extremely cold weather caused water mains to break in Cabool, a small town in southern Missouri. When the lines were repaired, a backflow of contaminated water entered the system. Hyperchlorination at the time of repairs would have prevented the problem that led to 243 cases of illness and four deaths.
Canada's worst outbreak occurred in 1998 in a rural farm community where a local billboard proclaimed the area "Canada's Foremost Cattle County." Nearly 2,000 residents of Walkerton - almost half of the town - became ill with E. coli 0157. Ninety people were hospitalized; 11 people died. People were advised to boil all water, throw out their old toothbrushes and even wipe down their doorknobs to curtail the spread of infection.
Five years earlier, a study conducted by Health Canada had compared the density of cattle in the area - as many as 200 animals per hectare - with the high incidence of reported E. coli cases and determined that Walkerton was a town waiting for an outbreak. Increased rain allowed runoff water that had been in contact with cattle dung to enter the municipal wells. A faulty chlorinating system failed to kill the organism, and the contaminated water was piped into the homes and consumed by unsuspecting townspeople.
A bizarre outbreak involving recreational water stunned Georgia residents in 1998. Andy and Marisa Akin were raising their 2-year-old daughter, McCall, as a vegetarian, so they never worried about undercooked ground beef. They never imagined that a day at an Atlanta water park would be harmful to their toddler. McCall became ill with E. coli 0157, along with 26 other children. Six, including McCall, required hospitalization.
The kiddie-pool water was later identified as the source of infection with a probable fecal accident causing the contamination. A low chlorine level on the day of McCall's visit compounded the problem. After being hospitalized for 6 weeks on kidney dialysis and a respirator, McCall died on July 22, becoming the first child in the nation known to have died from E. coli transmitted in chlorinated pool water. Guidelines for both private and public pools were reviewed, and new recommendations were announced in the hopes of preventing future outbreaks from recreational water.
Another serious water outbreak occurred in the fall of 1999 when New York's Washington County Fair was in full swing. Most of the grounds at the fair were supplied with chlorinated water, but in one area vendors had access only to unchlorinated well water. Not realizing the danger, they used the water to make beverages and ice. More than 900 people experienced diarrhea, 65 were hospitalized and two died.
Cattle Proximity
Field trips to the farm, long a favorite of both preschool and school-age children, led to 56 illnesses in Washington and Pennsylvania the following year, with 19 children hospitalized. Not only were some of the cattle on the farms colonized with E. coli 0157, but the railing in one locale was found to be positive for the pathogen. Infections occurred when children petted the animals or played on the railing and failed to wash their hands before eating. New guidelines were issued to insure the safety of children visiting farm and petting zoos.
In 2002, a report at the Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference, CDC, documented an outbreak after a dance was held in a multi-use community facility where cattle had been previously shown. The floor was covered with sawdust that later tested positive for E. coli, as did the dust on rafters overhead. Of those who attended the event, 111 became ill and nine developed HUS.
Another report of a pancake breakfast held in a building where cattle had been housed 4 days earlier resulted in 34 cases of E. coli. Again, the organism remained viable in the sawdust.
Recalls
Immediately after the onset of the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, more than 250,000 hamburgers were recalled. The rapid response is thought to have prevented an additional 800 cases of illness.2 Since that time, food products - most often ground beef - have been recalled to halt the spread of disease.
In 1997, Hudson Food Inc., of Rogers, Ark., recalled 25 million pounds of beef after 17 people became ill. In July, 2002, ConAgra Beef Co. voluntarily recalled 19 million pounds of beef and beef products.21 Consumers can call the U.S.D.A. Meat and Poultry Hotline at (800) 535-4555 or visit their Web site at www.fsis.usda.gov for information on meat or poultry products.
On the Rise?
Whether ground beef, alfalfa sprouts, cantaloupe, potatoes or lettuce, it seems that any food or produce item has the potential to harbor E. coli. Mass distribution of food can cause wide-scale illness, such as an outbreak in Japan that resulted in 10,000 cases of illness in 14 separate clusters when contaminated radish sprouts were shipped throughout the country. Today, the CDC estimates E. coli 0157:H7 causes 73,000 cases of infection resulting in 61 deaths each year in this country.6 While some wonder if the incidence of outbreaks is on the rise, Jay Varma, MD, medical epidemiologist in the Foodborne and Diarrheal Disease Branch of the CDC, offers this reassurance: "After the major outbreaks of the 1990s, the next few years saw a significant increase in the number of cases. One explanation is certainly that people in general were more aware. Another is that more labs are running tests for E. coli 0157. But for the last couple of years, the incidence has remained constant.
"That's a good thing and a bad thing," continues Varma. "It's good because there has been no increase, but bad because of all the information out there, we still haven't been able to reduce the number of cases. With the food safety measures implemented, there should be a reduction in the incidence. It may be that if we hadn't had so many interventions, we would have seen a dramatic rise in the number of cases."
Proactive Labs
The CDC recommends the routine culture of all bloody stools and HUS patients for E. coli 0157 with Sorbitol-MacConkey (SMAC) agar. Most strains of E. coli 0157 do not ferment sorbitol, and after 18 to 24 hours of incubation at 37?C, the sorbitol-negative colonies will appear colorless on SMAC. Tests based on E. coli 0157's inability to produce ?-glucuronidase can also be used.
James Nataro, professor of pediatrics, pediatric infections and tropical diseases at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, says, "The biggest problem is communication to the lab that 0157 is suspected. We're working to educate the physician to examine the stool for blood, if possible, or at least elicit a history. They should ask the mother, �Did you notice blood in the stool? Was it red or perhaps dark brown or black?' What's happening now is that the lab is asked to test for 0157 if they see blood, but more commonly they don't get the history and don't always see the blood."
Natara challenges labs to be proactive and has this suggestion for laboratory administrators. "Add hemoccult analysis as a routine first step in stool testing," he says. "If positive, then test for 0157:H7. It would help to fill in the cracks. And it's important to test all patients, adults as well as children. A single case may be the index case in the outbreak."
Of note is the organism's pathogenicity. At least three cases of E. coli 0157:H7 acquired in the laboratory have progressed to hemorrhagic colitis and renal failure. The microbe is highly infectious, and adequate precautions should be taken when working with the E. coli.
Possible Solutions
Because cattle are a natural reservoir of E. coli, the slaughter house is certainly one place to look for ways to prevent the spread of infection. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has enacted a Zero Tolerance Program for fecal matter on raw beef carcasses, and a Pathogen Reduction Program has brought better regulation to areas where contamination of beef can first occur.
Meat packing plants also require constant monitoring. Beef is ground and pooled into large batches and packaged for widespread distribution. Since only a few organisms can cause infection, a single infected steer can contaminate a large quantity of ground beef.
While reducing slaughter house and packing plant contamination is essential, the scientific community recognizes the need to find other solutions to curb the spread of E. coli 0157. Irradiation of meat has been recommended, yet consumers complain that the taste is altered, especially in meat with a high fat content such as ground beef. Others are fearful that radiation may prove harmful to humans.
"Scientific evidence is fairly clear that irradiation renders food safer and poses no risk to human health that we know of," says Varma. The CDC recognizes that public acceptance is an important question, and the agency is running national surveys to identify people's concerns about irradiation.
"Although irradiation is one of many answers to the problem," Varma says, "certain groups are concerned that if the government's message is irradiation, we might ignore other methods that could be beneficial. Irradiation is one answer. We don't advocate that it's the only method."
Michael P. Doyle, PhD, regents professor of Food Microbiology, director of the Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement and head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia, was one of the first to report on the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak. He has continued to study E. coli 0157:H7 since that time.
"USDA tests reveal only 0.8% of ground beef is contaminated with 0157," says Doyle, who believes ground beef is not the greatest risk factor to the United States. Since the organism is carried in the intestinal tract and passed in the feces of animals, it contaminates both farmland and water and poses a problem to those who work and live there, as well as to those who visit. Therefore, he says, "It looks like the greatest emphasis for E. coli 0157 is on the farm.
"Studies have been done in the United States that look at the primary risk factors, and the farm comes at the top of the list, but eating uncooked ground beef is low. A similar study in England looked hard to find the risk for ground beef and found it was not as significant a problem as compared with farm exposure," Doyle says. "The critical issue is to reduce the carriage or shedding in the feces in cattle."
Probiotic bacteria seem to be one solution.
"Probiotic means friendly microorganisms that are good for the health of humans and animals," he explains. A subgroup are the competitive exclusion bacteria, which is how Doyle classifies the probiotic with which he has been working. The bacteria have been isolated from cattle that do not carry 0157 and are actually an antimicrobial to 0157 that lives in the rumen of cows.
"If we feed these bacteria to cattle," he says, "within a short time, 80% to 90% of the cattle don't shed 0157 in their feces." The new probiotic would be inexpensive, perhaps as low as a dollar a treatment.
A veterinary pharmaceutical company is studying the probiotic. From there, the FDA would have to approve its use, but Doyle feels confident it will be on the market in the near future.
Nataro believes a vaccine for cattle looks promising, as well. The vaccine would prevent cattle from becoming colonized with E. coli 0157 and is in the testing phase.
"Since the cattle are the main reservoir, if we can prevent cattle from harboring the organism we could prevent it from contaminating our food supply," says Nataro. "And it certainly would be more effective than a human vaccine. Safety would not be as big an issue. To administer a human vaccine to the entire population, the vaccine would have to be 100% safe, yet there still would be problems. And, of course, there would be a real concern of vaccinating the entire population against a relatively rare infection."
With cattle, those concerns would not be a issue. "A study of 36,000 cattle in western Canada is being done, and the data should be compiled within a year with perhaps another year before it's on the market," he says.
Irradiation, probiotic bacteria and a vaccine for cattle are all possible ways to halt the spread of E. coli 0157 in the future. But until then, the medical community and public must be aware of the dangers of this insidious pathogen.
"E. coli 0157:H7 is an important health problem," says Varma, "and the lab plays a critical role, providing information and aid in the development of new policies. But laboratorians should handle 0157 carefully. It only takes a few bugs to make a person sick. That's the reason it's a real challenge."
Debby Giusti is a medical technologist and freelance writer living in the Atlanta area and an ADVANCE for Administrators of the Laboratory editorial advisory board member.
As Joshua L. Kwan reported in his San Jose Mercury News story Woman's son sues over E. coli death, the son of an 85-year-old woman who died last year during an E. coli outbreak at a Portola Valley nursing home has sued the food service company that supplied contaminated spinach to the home.
''The wrong is that someone got sick,'' said Bill Marler, an attorney for McWalter's family. ''And it came from food that these people served,'' he said about Sodexho. ''In a sense, it's case closed.''
Keith McWalter said his mother complained of abdominal pain when he visited her Oct. 12. She was hospitalized Oct. 10, but residents weren't warned of a possible E. coli outbreak until Oct. 13. Matsumoto said the home did not receive test results indicating an E. coli problem until Oct. 13.
The Washington Supreme Court today declined to review last year's Court of Appeals decision upholding a $4.6 million award to 11 children injured in a 1998 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that was linked to undercooked taco meat served as part of a school lunch at Finley Elementary School. School District had sought the Supreme Court's review arguing that school districts should not be held legally responsible if ill-prepared food sickens or kills a student. The Supreme Court refused to consider the argument.
Denis Stearns, one of the founding partners at Marler Clark, said:
"Washington State has a long history of holding school accountable when the children in their care are injured or killed. We believe that the Supreme Court's decision today reaffirms the principle that, when it comes to preparing food for their students, a school's foodservice operation should be held to the same high standard as any other restaurant licensed to operate in this State.""School-aged children are more vulnerable than most when it comes to exposure to contaminated food. Those who argue for lower-standards plainly do not understand what the problem is, or what is truly at stake. If anything, schools should be held to the highest standards. These are our children we are talking about."
In its investigation of the outbreak, the Washington State Department of Health found that the Finley School under-cooked the taco meat. The Department further found the "differences in the preparation, handling, and transport of meat may have allowed for uneven cooking, uneven cooling, and uneven re-heating at the elementary school. This outbreak and the resulting investigation highlight the importance of regular inspections of institutional kitchens and the need for training of food service workers."
In declining to accept review of the Court of Appeals decision, the Supreme Court foreclosed any further legal options for the school district and its insurers. Stearns said:
"While this day has been long in coming, it is a day that our clients are grateful for. They will get the compensation that the jury found them so deserving of, and can now get on with their lives."
William Marler, a Seattle attorney who represents children throughout the United States poisoned by E. coli, speaks out on Ohio and Kentucky E. coli cases tied to Kentucky Fried Chicken Coleslaw.
"Nearly everyday I hear about another case of E. coli, Salmonella or Lysteria tied to some food product. However, I have never seen a situation where the same product injures different people who ate at the same restaurant chain one year apart -- usually a company learns from past mistakes," said attorney William Marler of Marler Clark. According to reports by the Omaha World-Herald in March 1999, KFC was implicated in 27 confirmed E. coli illnesses stemming from coleslaw at a Greenwood, Indiana restaurant in May 1998.
At that time, the Indiana Health Department found:
"It is frankly shocking that KFC did not move faster to assure its customers that lightening, in the form of E. coli, would not strike twice. I think the Ohio and Kentucky Health Departments should look very hard at pressing charges against KFC," added Marler.
There's nothing more American than the county fair. From Washington and California to New York and Texas, countless millions of people are visiting their local fairs to ride the rides, feast on cotton candy and hot dogs, and to visit those cute farm animals.
Unfortunately, some of the visitors to fairs will get very sick. And the sickest ones, most of them small children, may be close to death before their doctors identify the cause - a relatively new strain of deadly bacteria known as E. coli O157:H7.
Most people identify this pathogen with undercooked hamburgers from fast food restaurants. But as a lawyer who has represented thousands of victims of food-borne illness, I have learned that people, especially children, can be infected in a variety of ways - including attending a local county fair or petting zoo.
Any place where people come into contact with farm animals must be considered high risk. The track record speaks for itself. Since 1995, thirteen outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported at fairs and petting zoos. Thousands have been sickened. Many escape with a bad case of diarrhea and cramps. But some, mostly kids, have suffered permanent damage to their kidneys.
And some have died.
A year ago, at least 82 people became sick after attending the Lane County Fair in Eugene, Oregon. Most were young children, and 22 of them were hospitalized - twelve with kidney failure.
Oregon Health Services eventually traced the infections to the goat and sheep exposition hall, and investigators believe the bacteria were possibly transmitted through the ventilation system.
In 2000, at least five children were sickened after visiting a petting zoo in Snohomish County, Washington. The cause was not determined, but the children ate their lunches after petting the animals.
In August of 1998, at least 781 people became ill after attending a fair in Washington County, near Albany, New York. Of those, 71 were hospitalized and two eventually died from kidney failure. The cause: water contaminated by a neighboring farm.
The list goes on -- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, each sickening people with a bacterium carried by livestock. In 2001 the CDC warned operators of petting zoos and county fairs to clean up.
Nonetheless, lessons from previous outbreaks are not being learned. Those farm animals may be cute, but they also can carry a deadly pathogen. A recent United States Department of Agriculture study of over 20 County Fairs found E. coli O157:H7 in 13.8 percent of beef cattle, 5.9 percent of dairy cattle, and slightly smaller percentages of sheep, pigs and goats - nearly the same percentages found in animals in feed lots.
This toxin, in effect, targets small children, burrowing into their intestines and leading eventually to kidney failure. Most adults will recover, but many children won't.
Imagine how government would respond if the same number of people had been injured from falling off merry-go-rounds. Those wooden horses would grind to a halt and the lawyers would have a field day.
But when people suffer from E. coli O157:H7 poisoning, the fair-related outbreaks are ignored.
This does make good business for lawyers like me. But I'll gladly give up that business if it means not having to see four-year-olds hooked up to kidney dialysis machines.
So what do we do? Banish the county fair? Of course not. But fair organizers can take some rather simple and inexpensive precautions.
First, they need to clean up their act. Sanitize walkways and railings, and provide ample hand-washing areas for both employees and visitors.
Second, stop selling or allowing food in close proximity to areas where animals are on display.
Third, increase ventilation of buildings to reduce the risk of airborne contamination. Keep livestock areas damp with an approved disinfectant.
Fourth, they should screen all display animals for E. coli O157:H7 - or require that exhibitors show proof their animals are pathogen free.
Finally, educate visitors. Post signs that explain to parents the importance of hand-washing before and after visiting the animals. Post tough warnings at the entrances, emphasizing the risks to small children.
Perhaps these precautions won't eliminate the risk to public health. But, for a minimal investment, organizers can reduce the risk of sending kids to the hospital - or worse. And, at the same time, they can put lawyers like me out of business.
I was featured in the Food Protection Report (December 2004 Vol. 20 No. 12), talking about E. coli O157:H7 and fair outbreaks, specifically regarding the prevention measures taken after the 2002 Lane County outbreak in Oregon... and how kids are still getting sick, even when the fair-runners do everything right.
"I think counties and states may have to reassess whether it is worth having fairs, petting zoos, and other events that bring people in close contact with animals," suggests prominent food litigation lawyer William Marler of the Seattle law firm Marler Clark. "I know it sounds un-American, but we are now having outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 linked to these events almost on a yearly basis," Marler told Food Protection Report.Infections picked up at events where people and animals mingle can spread throughout the community. Since 1998, at least seven E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks have been traced to fairs. The most recent outbreak occurred in North Carolina, where an investigation is ongoing.
Although the specifics of each E. coli outbreak at fairs differ, Marler says, they all have a common denominator and the pathogen lurks in ways that were not seen decades ago. A 2003 study by USDA found E. coli O157:H7 was not only commonly present at fairs but that levels of the bacteria were similar to those found in commercially reared livestock, which surprised researchers.
The Seattle firm filed suit on behalf of 12 families against lane county, Oregon, where an August 2002 county fair was identified as the source of the state's largest outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, which sickened at least 80 confirmed cases. The lawyer also is representing at least two cases in North Carolina.The Oregon suit was withdrawn in mid-October 2004. "We could not prove the exact form of E. coli transmission," Marler told FPR of the decision to drop the lawsuit. "We could not determine if it was indeed airborne transmission, or whether it was foodborne, caused by having animals in close proximity to people, or a combination of those and other factors." Lane county officials said plaintiffs could not show what the state could have done to prevent the outbreak.
Oregon health officials initially ruled out foods and beverages served at the fair as the cause of the outbreak, and speculated that direct exposure to infected sheep, goats and pigs may have been the culprit. They also suggested dirt and dust may have contaminated dry fecal material infected with the bacteria, which could have been inhaled by visitors. But two years after the event, no one knows exactly how the outbreak occurred.
Short of a ban, counties and states can do several things to protect consumers, Marler suggests. "You can test animals to see if they carry E. coli O157:H7, and if they do, exclude them from human contact," he said. In addition, through sanitation, careful tending of animal bedding to prevent dust, plenty of hand washing stations for visitors and employees, posting signs explaining the importance of hand washing, and not selling or allowing foods close to areas where animals are on display can lessen the risk of disease outbreak.
Following the 2002 Lane County outbreak, Oregon issued recommendations to prevent disease outbreaks at fairs, but it is unclear how many counties have adopted them. "We have 35 fairs in Oregon annually, and some of them have, generally, adopted the recommendations, but it's hard to know how many actually have done so. It's probably been a mixed bag," said William Keane, epidemiologist, Oregon Department of Human Services, told FPR. "We don't have the authority to require fairs to comply with our recommendations," he said. "Oregon doesn't have such authority because the legislature has chosen not to do that," Marler said.
Lane County did adopt measures to better manage human contact with animals, increase public awareness of risks, and improve sanitation, as recommended by the state, and the county has not had any fair-related illnesses since then.
But Marler said that even if all preventive steps are taken, outbreaks can still occur. "We may have to rethink whether fairs and other venues are something we really have to have," he said. Marler Clark has set up a web site www.fair-safety.com to increase awareness of the issue.
Chris Cline of the Daily Journal wrote a moving article about two-year-old Emilie Allen, of Bonne Terre, who contracted E. coli in September and is still suffering complications. She was in the hospital for nearly two months after suffering kidney failure. She was on dialysis until October 19.
According to the article, the St. Francois County Health Department conducted routine inspections at two local restaurants on Oct. 4 in an attempt to identify where the strain of E. coli originated that infected the 2-year-old Bonne Terre girl. Officials said no direct links were made to the origin of the strain of E. coli 0157:H7. In addition to inspecting the food establishments, a water sample out of the private well at the residence of the Allens was also tested. The water sample also came back negative.
A benefit account for Emilie is still open at First State Community Bank locations.
As Randi Bjornstad of The Register-Guard reported in the article Back from the Brink: Families of children who contracted E. coli count blessings -- and bills, I've advised my clients to drop their lawsuits regarding the E. coli outbreak at the 2002 Lane County Fair. Not an easy decision, for me or for my clients, but after doing a lot of research and taking dozens of depositions of Lane County officials, family members of those affected by the outbreak and field experts, I saw no other choice.
From the article:
In 2002, when the Lane County outbreak happened, "airborne or dustborne transmission of E. coli was still a novel concept," Marler said. "Whether that's exactly how these people got the infection, we just don't know. Some washed their hands, others didn't. Some touched animals, others didn't. Some of the children walked through the barns, some never got out of their strollers. We just couldn't pinpoint, `This is what the fair didn't do, this is what they should have done.' Without that, we couldn't win a lawsuit."He and the families wanted more than just a financial settlement.
"Most state, county and local entities are either immune from lawsuits or have caps on awards," Marler said. "There's very little economic incentive for them to change. I'm not suggesting that all award caps should be removed, but I think government officials should look at these situations as if it were their grandkids who had the problem."
If they did, Kevin Closson believes, it might cut E. coli outbreaks in the future. Closson's daughter, Madeline, then 3, spent two weeks in Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland, undergoing daily dialysis treatments for a week and requiring blood transfusions.
"During dialysis ... they suck the blood out, clean it up, cool it down and put it back in," Closson said. "It takes several hours, which is one thing for an adult but way too much for a little child, so they have to put them under anesthesia to do it. At one point, in one day, Maddy was under three times. The money wasn't as big a thing to us as witnessing what all that did to our 3-year-old's body."
The News-Observer ran an article a few days ago about 3-year-old Matthew Baldwin, who picked up a nearly deadly case of E. coli from a 45-minute visit to the petting zoo in October. Matthew was the first of more than 100 people sickened by E. coli last month after attending the North Carolina State Fair.
From the article:
William D. Marler, a personal injury lawyer in Seattle who specializes in contamination cases, said petting zoos are increasingly being identified as sources of E. coli outbreaks. He said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published suggestions to cut exposure, such as providing hand-washing stations with running water and soap -- an amenity that wasn't offered at the State Fair's petting zoos.Exhibits that fail to take such measures, Marler said, may carry some legal liability, and four North Carolina families have contacted him.
"I don't think we, as the public and people in positions of authority, have taken this seriously," Marler said. "Maybe five years ago nobody really knew about this, and it was novel. But it's far more than novel at this point. There are dozens of outbreaks that have occurred in petting zoos and fairs.
"We have to get past the thought that we're not going to do anything because fairs are part of Americana. If these were Ferris wheel accidents year in and year out, the public would go crazy."
There's nothing more American than the local fair. Countless millions visit them each year for the rides, the delectable goodies, and for some up close and personal -- sometimes even hands on -- time with the farm animals. What fair-goers are finding out though, and often through devastating illness rather than education, is that the irresistible petting zoos and livestock exhibitions, which attract more children than anything, often harbor the lethal bacteria E. coli O157:H7. For the sake of the kids, we must turn our attention to this undeniable health concern.
Most people associate E. Coli O157:H7 only with undercooked hamburgers from fast food restaurants. As a lawyer who has represented thousands of victims of E. coli poisoning, however, I have learned that the problem is not so confined. Infection can occur in a variety of ways, including attendance at a petting zoo or the livestock barn at the county fair, and those most vulnerable are our children..
Any place where people come into contact with farm animals must be considered high risk for exposure to E. coli and other poisons. The track record speaks for itself. Since 1995, fifteen outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported at fairs and petting zoos in the United States (see www.fair-safety.com). Hundreds have been sickened. Many escape with a bad case of diarrhea and cramps; but some, mostly kids, suffer permanent kidney damage due to a complication of E. coli infection called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).
Some have even died.
In 2003, 24 people fell ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after attending the county fair at Fort Bend, Texas. Illness was not linked to food. Investigators found, instead, that all ill individuals had visited animal exhibition areas at the fair. Further investigation revealed that both the rodeo and animal exhibition areas were saturated with E. coli O157:H7.
In 2002, in what is believed to be the largest E. coli outbreak in Oregon state history, at least 82 people became sick after attending the Lane County Fair in Eugene, Oregon. Most were young children, and 22 were hospitalized. Of those who were hospitalized, over half experienced kidney failure. Oregon Health Services eventually traced the infections to the goat and sheep exposition hall, and investigators believe the bacteria were possibly transmitted through the ventilation system.
In 1998, at least 781 people became ill after attending a fair in Washington County near Albany, New York. Of those, 71 were hospitalized and two eventually died from kidney failure. The cause: water contaminated by a neighboring farm.
The list goes on - Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio - each outbreak beginning with livestock and other farm animals. In 2001, observing the dangerous trend, the CDC warned operators of petting zoos and county fairs to clean up.
The warning, however, has gone unheeded, and lessons from previous outbreaks are unlearned. Now it is North Carolina with over 100 children sickened at a recent livestock exhibition.
Those farm animals may be cute, but they can also carry a deadly pathogen. A recent United States Department of Agriculture study of over 20 County Fairs found E. coli O157:H7 in 13.8 percent of beef cattle, 5.9 percent of dairy cattle, and slightly smaller percentages of sheep, pigs and goats - nearly the same percentages found in animals in feed lots. How many of us would take our kids to visit and pet animals in a feed lot?
Imagine how government would respond if the same number of people had been injured from falling off merry-go-rounds. Those wooden horses would grind to a halt and the lawyers would have a field day. But when people suffer from E. coli O157:H7 poisoning, fair and petting zoo-related outbreaks are ignored. Why?
Ignoring the risks involved with human-animal contact and allowing outbreaks to continue makes good business for lawyers like me. But I'll gladly give up that business if it means not having to see four-year-olds hooked up to kidney dialysis machines. So what do we do? Banish state and county fairs? Eliminate Petting Zoos? Of course not. But fair organizers can take some rather simple and inexpensive precautions.
First, they need to clean up their act. Sanitize walkways and railings, and provide ample hand-washing areas for both employees and visitors.
Second, stop selling or allowing food in close proximity to areas where animals are on display.
Third, increase ventilation of buildings to reduce the risk of airborne contamination. Keep livestock areas damp with an approved disinfectant.
Fourth, test all display animals for E. coli O157:H7 - or require that exhibitors show proof that their animals are pathogen-free.
Finally, educate visitors. Post signs that explain to parents the importance of hand-washing before and after visiting animal exhibition areas and petting zoos. Post warnings at the entrances, emphasizing the risks to small children and of the potential for airborne transmission of disease.
Perhaps these precautions won't eliminate all the risk to public health. But for such a minimal investment, organizers can reduce the risk of sending kids to the hospital - or worse. And at the same time, they can avoid lawsuits and put lawyers like me out of business.
In a tragic story of how our food system fails families, Madeline Drexler's article "What She Ate Almost Killed Her" for Good Housekeeping paints the painful tale of one little girl's battle with death, all because she ate a hamburger.
On June 30, 2002, ConAgra recalled 354,200 pounds of ground beef. On July 16, Kristi Thacker purchased a five-pound package of ConAgra ground beef, packaged under a store-brand name, from her local grocery store. Three days later ConAgra expanded its recall, but Kristi Thacker didn't hear about the recall until early September, about a month after she cooked the contaminated meat and fed it to her family. On August 14, five-year-old Savana Thacker got sick. Within a week, she was hospitalized with kidney and liver failure, complications of HUS caused by E. coli toxins poisoning her young body.
"Usually, I take things as they roll," Kristi says now. "But this time, I literally felt ill." Her husband, Shelby, got mad. "He wanted to know why, where, how. Who could have done this to us?"The answer: our government's lack of mandatory recall, and a voluntary recall process shrouded in secrecy.
For one, recalls are voluntary: No federal agency can order a manufacturer to pull a contaminated food product from the market, with the exception of infant formula; it can only request that the item be removed.
More alarming, the process is shrouded in secrecy. You may hear the name of the manufacturer mentioned on a TV report or read about it in the paper. But unless your local market chooses to identify itself, you won't learn that the store has sold potentially lethal meat. It is no surprise, then, that only a small percentage of recalled foods is ever accounted for. The rest may have already been consumed or disposed of by the retailer or restaurant. Or it may wait in freezers in private homes.
We've seen these tragic cases in children before. A year before Savana got sick, two-year-old Kevin Kowalcyk died from a strain of E. coli that matched that from a recalled batch of meat manufactured by Green Bay Dressed Beef (which does business under the name American Foods Group). When his mother tried to find out where the firm had distributed the meat, she was stonewalled by state health officials.
Last July, with no other way to get the information, her attorney, William Marler, filed a lawsuit against American Foods Group and against the grocery store where Barbara regularly bought ground beef. "It is ridiculous that a grieving family would have to jump through the number of hoops we've had to, to find out what made our son sick," Barbara says. "They don't understand that when something like this happens to your child, you need to know."
Until our government changes its system, kids will continue to die from the dangerous dishes served to them at family meals, school lunches, fast food establishments. We've seen kids with HUS sickened and killed from E. coli contaminated hamburger, juice, milk, spinach. It's everywhere, and until the government sets higher standards, requires regular inspections and makes recalls mandatory, eating will continue to be a dangerous game for the American family.
Marler Clark filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of Patricia and Asa Wasden, the parents of Ian Wasden, a two-year-old boy who suffered from Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) after contracting E. coli O157:H7 last June at Kid's Korner daycare in Joplin.
"After the first child attending Kid's Korner tested positive for E. coli, the daycare operators should have notified all parents and taken extra precautions to ensure that no other children became ill," said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. "Instead, they continued to operate the daycare as if nothing was wrong, which probably led to dozens of illnesses that could have been prevented."
Through interviews with families, officials from the Joplin Health Department and the Missouri Department of Health learned that Kid's Korner failed to notify 32% of families whose children had attended the daycare and were therefore exposed to E. coli O157:H7. Overall, 26 children attending Kid's Korner experienced diarrhea during the month of May, and four submitted stool samples that cultured positive for E. coli O157:H7.
"When you look at the facts, particularly the Health Department report, it is obvious that Kid's Korner showed a blatant disregard for the safety of Ian Wasden and all other children who attended their daycare," Marler concluded. During their investigation, officials visited the daycare on several occasions, and noted numerous "non-compliances" that were considered "likely to be linked to disease transmission."
Ian Wasden was hospitalized for nearly three weeks, undergoing a full week of kidney dialysis, seven blood transfusions, three surgeries, and a severe case of pancreatitis. He was released from Children's Mercy Hospital on June 20, 2004, but continues to suffer from painful abdominal cramping. His kidneys have not fully recovered from the effects of E. coli and HUS.
As Jane Lerner of the Journal News reported today, Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit against BJ's Wholesale Club on behalf of the parents of a Bergen County, N.J., boy who got sick from a strain of bacteria identical to the one that nearly killed a Rockland girl two years ago.
Three-year-old Owen Langan of Wyckoff developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after eating a hamburger made from ground beef that a family friend bought at the BJ's in Paramus. Owen got sick in May 2002, around the same time that two Rockland girls became ill after eating ground beef purchased at the BJ's in West Nyack.
One girl recovered at home. The other, age 6, developed severe complications of E. coli infection, including hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). She spent more than a month at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where she underwent blood transfusions and developed kidney failure, pancreatitis, hypertension, a blood-clotting disorder and seizures. She recovered, but continues to suffer medical complications as a result of eating the tainted hamburger. In April, her family reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with BJ's to cover medical expenses.
The strain of bacteria that sickened Owen Langan was genetically identical to the strain that made the two Rockland girls sick. Owen spent 14 days in the hospital and developed kidney failure, which required treatment by dialysis.
A piece of legislation called the California Safe Schools Lunch Act (AB 1988) was recently passed by the State Assembly and now awaits action by the State Senate. Unfortunately, its positive-sounding title might not satisfy the State's own truth-in-labeling laws. The Bill's passage and the passage of similar laws around the country could put school children at greater risk, not less, from the dangers of foodborne illness.
As originally drafted, the Bill restricted the State's Department of Education from ordering irradiated ground beef from the USDA's National School Lunch Program, an option that school districts have available for the first time in 2004. In its present form, it makes this additional food safety measure more difficult and expensive, at a time local school districts are financially strained. In some cities, like San Francisco, Berkeley and Washington, DC, local school boards have succumbed to pressure from irradiation opponents and voted outright bans on serving irradiated foods in cafeterias.
The problem is this: an estimated 73,000 people, many children, get E. coli infection every year and 61 die from it. The GAO found that between 1990 and 1999, 195 outbreaks of foodborne illnesses occurred in our schools, sickening thousands of children. I currently represent children who were made ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating contaminated lettuce served at Eastern Washington University, a school in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and schools in San Diego and Orange Counties. In the past, I represented children made ill after eating contaminated ground beef in Washington state and Georgia. The list goes on, and E. coli is not the only pathogen making our children sick.
Last fall, the Washington state Supreme Court affirmed a Jury's verdict of $4.75 million against a small, rural School District for undercooking hamburger that was contaminated with the deadly pathogen, E. coli O157:H7 and was served to elementary students for lunch in the fall of 1998. Justice for these children, one who suffered severe kidney failure, was long in coming. The big issue is not the money, no matter how well deserved. The issue is that the contaminated meat was sent to the school through the National School Lunch Program by the same Governmental agency supposedly responsible for meat safety - the USDA.
When ground beef is irradiated, at least 99.99 percent of E. coli and other harmful foodborne bacteria are killed. Yet irradiation is not a panacea; it is only one additional food safety measure. Others I strongly urge are higher quality and safety standards from plants and suppliers; improved traceback of contaminated meat; better training of food service personnel; serving precooked as well as irradiated foods in school cafeterias; educating students, faculty and parents on safe food handling practices; and requiring the USDA and FDA to publish online all inspection reports, recall notices, and violations of food safety standards for every plant that supplies food to our schools. This will give parents and school administrators a powerful tool in learning the quality of food being served to the children. This comprehensive and cost effective approach to food safety protects our kids and protects a school's budget by preventing lawsuits.
Shown to be safe after more than 40 years of research, food irradiation is endorsed by nearly every major science and health agency, including the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Medical Association, and the American Dietetic Association. The CDC estimates that if just 50 percent of the meat and poultry were irradiated, the number of foodborne illnesses would be reduced by 900,000 annually and deaths by 352.
Legislators and school board members interested in getting both sides of the food irradiation debate should talk to Rainer Mueller of Oceanside, California. His 13-year-old son, Eric, died from complications of E. coli after eating a contaminated hamburger in 1993. Mr. Mueller has since served as president of the grassroots organization STOP (Safe Tables Our Priority) that is made up primarily of victims and families of foodborne illness. He has also established a website, www.ericsecho.org, in his son's memory and for the purpose of educating others about the risks and possible tragic outcomes of foodborne illness. Mr. Mueller sums it up succinctly, "Irradiation is not a silver bullet, but rather one of the tools which should be used to reduce the risk of illness, and in my son's case, death."
As Joshua L. Kwan reported in his San Jose Mercury News story Woman's son sues over E. coli death, the son of an 85-year-old woman who died last year during an E. coli outbreak at a Portola Valley nursing home has sued the food service company that supplied contaminated spinach to the home.
''The wrong is that someone got sick,'' said Bill Marler, an attorney for McWalter's family. ''And it came from food that these people served,'' he said about Sodexho. ''In a sense, it's case closed.''
Keith McWalter said his mother complained of abdominal pain when he visited her Oct. 12. She was hospitalized Oct. 10, but residents weren't warned of a possible E. coli outbreak until Oct. 13. Matsumoto said the home did not receive test results indicating an E. coli problem until Oct. 13.
Marler Clark and Keeney, Waite & Stevens filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Christopher and Karie Galindo, and their daughter, Kayce, who is suffering from a severe E. coli O157:H7 infection after consuming contaminated lettuce at Pat & Oscar's on September 28. The lawsuit was filed against Gold Coast Produce and Family Tree Produce in San Diego County Superior Court.
As Marler Clark stated in a recent press release:
"This is the second E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated lettuce in two years," said William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. "It is outrageous that produce suppliers are not taking proper precautions to keep our food supply safe. Something must be done to protect our children from being served food laced with deadly pathogens."
Approximately forty people, including Kayce Galindo, became ill with E. coli infections in late September and early October after consuming lettuce at different Pat & Oscar's restaurants. Several school children became ill after consuming contaminated lettuce served in their school lunches. Marler Clark and Keeney, Waite, & Stevens have been retained by over a dozen victims.
Kayce, a sixteen-year-old student and varsity volleyball player at Carlsbad High School, began experiencing severe abdominal cramping and bloody diarrhea two days after she ate a salad at Pat & Oscar's, and was hospitalized at Children's Hospital in San Diego for three days, then was discharged to recuperate. Kayce has again been hospitalized, after developing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS, a life-threatening complication of E. coli infections that often leads to kidney failure.
"This latest outbreak is the tenth E. coli outbreak in the last ten years that has been traced to contaminated lettuce," said Marler, whose firm represents several victims of a similar outbreak last summer that resulted in the illnesses of over fifty campers at a dance camp at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. "The lettuce packaging boasted that the product sold to Pat & Oscars and the School Districts was 'three-times pre-washed.' The problem is, if the produce or irrigation water came into contact with cattle or cattle feces during cultivation and harvest, washing would not have prevented any illnesses. The bacteria would have been inside the lettuce, not on the surface."
As I said in the press release, we filed this lawsuit based on California's Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Laws and the California Health and Safety Code. Under these laws, a manufacturer of food is "strictly liable" for injuries caused by food that was not "reasonably safe." A food product is not reasonably safe if it does not meet a consumer's reasonable expectations of safety. Because consumers reasonably expect the food they consume to be free of pathogens, the manufacturer of any food item that is contaminated with a pathogen, such as E. coli O157:H7 is liable to those who were harmed by consuming the product.
"Typically, when people think about E. coli O157:H7, they think, 'hamburger,'" Marler concluded. "Consumers understand now that E. coli comes from cattle feces, and are especially careful when cooking ground beef. What they don't realize is that if farmers aren't careful, cattle feces can also contaminate fresh produce that doesn't get cooked to a high enough temperature to kill the bacteria, or doesn't get cooked at all - as in the case of lettuce."
A Benton County Superior jury awarded $4.6 million in early 2001 after finding the district at fault for serving undercooked meat in tacos to Finley Elementary School students in October 1998.
The district's insurers had asked the state's highest court to consider the case, but the justices refused on Thursday for the second time.
Marler Clark's Denis Stearns said:
"The only option remaining is to ask the high court to reconsider, but succeeding in that bid would be highly unlikely in a case the justices have twice refused."
The affected families are glad the court battle is over. Five years have passed since the kids ate the tainted taco lunch, and these families still have medical bills to pay.
2-year-old Faith Maxwell was awarded $3.6 million, plus past medical expenses, even though she didn't eat the contaminated taco meal. She was infected by a child who ate the lunch and suffered serious kidney problems that are expected to cause her kidneys to fail.
The other 10 children's awards started at $1,200 plus medical expenses. Children besides Faith who had kidney problems and were taken to Children's Hospital in Seattle were awarded about $275,000, plus past medical expenses.
Most of the money not spent on medical expenses so far will be held in trust for the children's education and medical expenses.
Last week the Washington State Supreme Court affirmed a Jury's verdict of $4.75 million against a small, rural School District for undercooking hamburger that was contaminated with the deadly pathogen, E. coli O157:H7 and was served to elementary students for lunch in the Fall of 1998. Justice for these children, one who suffered severe kidney failure, was long in coming. The big issue is not the money, no matter how well deserved. The issue is that the contaminated meat was sent to the school through the National School Lunch Program by the same Governmental agency supposedly responsible for meat safety - the USDA.
The National School Lunch Program feeds over 25 million children in over 93,000 schools in the Untied States with a budget of over $5 billion. However, is the food safe? Is the raw material prepared properly? Is there poison in our schools? According to the General Accounting Office (GAO) in a study published in 2003, the answers to those questions are a resounding - maybe. The GAO found that between 1990 and 1999, 195 outbreaks of foodborne illnesses occurred in our schools, sickening thousands of children.
The GAO study shows that half of school-related outbreaks were caused by poor preparation techniques by foodservice workers - like those that cost a School District $4.75 million. Interestingly, the remaining outbreaks were caused by unknown reasons or by contaminated raw material. In one instance, three dozen students and three teachers were poisoned by USDA chicken contaminated with ammonia that leaked from refrigeration lines while the chicken was being stored. Health officials found that the tainted chicken showed ammonia levels 133 times the acceptable level.
Fortunately, these grade-school children were not severely injured. But criminal charges are pending against Illinois school officials who knowingly allowed the USDA contaminated chicken to be used in the schools. Unclear as yet is the knowledge that the USDA itself had of the contaminated chicken before it was shipped to School Districts in the Chicago area in the fall of 2002.
Food safety concerns are not confined to the cafeteria. Contaminated foods have also been linked to school-sponsored special events, lunches brought from home and food prepared and served in the classroom. One outbreak in North Carolina involved a teacher who brought unpasteurized butter that was contaminated by E. coli O157:H7 to school. Over 50 children were sickened, two suffered kidney failure.
Do we stop feeding our kids?
Do we stop bake sales and special events?
Absolutely not. For some of our children, a hot school lunch may be one of the best meals of the day. According to the USDA, more that 15 million low-income children receive a free or reduced-price lunch daily. We can not afford to reduce this support for fear of litigation.
So, what do we do to feed our kids safely?
Start at the source.
A comprehensive and cost effective approach to food safety protects our kids and protects a school's budget.
The Washington Supreme Court today declined to review last year's Court of Appeals decision upholding a $4.6 million award to 11 children injured in a 1998 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that was linked to undercooked taco meat served as part of a school lunch at Finley Elementary School. School District had sought the Supreme Court's review arguing that school districts should not be held legally responsible if ill-prepared food sickens or kills a student. The Supreme Court refused to consider the argument.
Denis Stearns, one of the founding partners at Marler Clark, said:
"Washington State has a long history of holding school accountable when the children in their care are injured or killed. We believe that the Supreme Court's decision today reaffirms the principle that, when it comes to preparing food for their students, a school's foodservice operation should be held to the same high standard as any other restaurant licensed to operate in this State."
"School-aged children are more vulnerable than most when it comes to exposure to contaminated food. Those who argue for lower-standards plainly do not understand what the problem is, or what is truly at stake. If anything, schools should be held to the highest standards. These are our children we are talking about."
In its investigation of the outbreak, the Washington State Department of Health found that the Finley School under-cooked the taco meat. The Department further found the "differences in the preparation, handling, and transport of meat may have allowed for uneven cooking, uneven cooling, and uneven re-heating at the elementary school. This outbreak and the resulting investigation highlight the importance of regular inspections of institutional kitchens and the need for training of food service workers."
In declining to accept review of the Court of Appeals decision, the Supreme Court foreclosed any further legal options for the school district and its insurers. Stearns said:
"While this day has been long in coming, it is a day that our clients are grateful for. They will get the compensation that the jury found them so deserving of, and can now get on with their lives."
Two dozen families plan to file a lawsuit today against Lane County and the Lane County Fair Board, seeking damages for illnesses caused by the biggest outbreak of E. coli bacteria in state history at last year's county fair. All these folks became ill with a very deadly pathogen through no fault of their own. The fair board and the county could have done more to prevent these people from getting sick in the first place.
The families -- all but two from Lane County -- face a major hurdle even if they win a verdict from a local jury. Oregon law caps the liability of government agencies. Under the law, the most any single family could recover from the Fair Board and the county is $200,000. I will challenge the cap, and I put the county on notice last January that I planned to bring the action.
The suit lists 13 E. coli outbreaks at fairs, petting zoos and farms across the country since 1994, including three at county fairs in the Midwest in summer 2001. County fair officials were negligent if they knew about the earlier outbreaks and didn't take more aggressive steps to protect the public. If fair officials didn't know of the earlier outbreaks, they should have known.
The bottom line is the fair board created a place where people were bound to get ill regardless of what they did. Kids who never got out of their strollers, who never touched a cow, never touched a railing -- all they did was get wheeled through a shed, and they got sick.
Warren Wong, the fair's managing director, said the fair followed appropriate sanitary practices. "I believe what we did and have done are traditional and customary practices that represent the state of the industry," he said.
The fair plans to spend up to $25,000 to reduce the risk of E. coli infection at this year's exhibition by installing hand-washing stations outside animal barns, putting up signs and distributing brochures warning people of the risk.
The county should require that every animal be tested for E. coli. Some animals may slip through such a test, but it would go a long way to reduce risk.
E. coli is most commonly spread through contaminated ground beef and water. But public health investigators traced the fair outbreak to the sheep and goat exposition hall on the south side of the fairgrounds. Investigators never determined exactly how people got infected, but said the bacteria could have spread through straw contaminated with animal feces. Bacteria also were found in the building's rafters, indicating that it became airborne and could have fallen on food, floors, railings or people's skin.
Marler Clark filed a lawsuit today against the Lane County Fair Board on behalf of 29 individuals and families of individuals who were infected with E. coli O157:H7 during an outbreak at the Lane County Fair last summer.
A number of fairs and petting zoos have been implicated in E. coli outbreaks in recent years. The Lane County Fair Board should have been aware of risks to patrons, and taken the necessary precautions to prevent this outbreak. These kids were severely injured, and many may suffer from complications of their E. coli infections later in life. Someone needs to be held responsible for what they went through.
I recommended taking the following steps to prevent outbreaks at future fairs:
Two dozen people sickened by the biggest E. coli outbreak in state history filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Lane County Fair Board, claiming the board didn't do enough to protect fairgoers given similar outbreaks in other states.
Eighty-two people became sick at the fair -- nearly two-thirds of them younger than age 6. Twelve children were treated at Portland hospitals for hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a potentially fatal complication of E. coli infection that causes kidney failure.
Tim Outman and Kimberly Kessel took their boys, Makyah and Kyler, to the fair on Aug. 17. The parents pushed the boys through the animal barns in a double stroller. At one point, Makyah got out to inspect a mother pig nursing her piglets and put his hands on the railing of the pen, Kessel said. She wiped off his hands afterward. Kyler, now 2, never got sick. But within days, Makyah, now 4, became violently ill with cramps, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, vomiting and fever.
They took Makyah to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland for three days to treat his HUS. The boy avoided dialysis and blood transfusions and today seems to be doing fine, with no sign of permanent damage, Outman said. Outman and Kessel are both artists. They live in Eugene and have a studio in McKenzie Bridge. They don't have health insurance and incurred about $15,000 in medical expenses during their son's illness.
Outman called the fair board after the outbreak and asked it to cover their medical bills. He said he was told to send a copy of the bills to the fair board for coverage. But when he called back after sending in the bills, he was told the county wouldn't cover their expenses. That's why they decided to join the suit.
"The fair board didn't seem to use a reasonable amount of care to prevent this," Outman said. "If someone comes on our property and gets injured, the standard we're held to is warn people or make it safe, and the fairgrounds did neither of those."
While Outman and Kessel hope their son won't have long-term health problems, many children who get HUS develop serious complications later in life and require lifelong medical care.
Carson Walter, the 2-year-old daughter of William and Shelly Walter of Eugene, spent 31 days at Doernbecher and underwent 17 rounds of dialysis, a process that filtered toxins and excess water from her blood.
Today, Carson "seems to be fairly stable," though she's still taking blood pressure medicine, her mother said. The long-term damage to her kidneys won't be known until she's 10 or 12.
Madeleine Closson, 3, is doing well 10 months after she spent 15 days and underwent three surgeries at Doernbecher after she developed HUS, said her father, Kevin Closson of Portland. "That's a hell of a lot to put a kid through," he said. But she often wakes up in the middle of the night, gets headaches and routinely suffers painful stomachaches, he said, though he's not sure whether those are complications of her E. coli-induced illness.
Lane County Commissioner Bill Dwyer said he doesn't think the county or the fair board can be held liable for the outbreak.
"Whenever you're around animals, there's a risk you have to take," he said. "The question is, was it reasonable what the county had done? I'd say it was probably the cleanest fair we ever had. You take some risks when you allow your children to peruse among animals," Dwyer said.
Even with the cap on damages, the Lane County Fair pays about $61,000 a year for a $5 million general liability insurance policy to guard against federal lawsuits, out-of-state claims or contractual liability claims.
I will challenge the constitutionality of the state's "tort caps," as they're known. If I win, I'll ask the jury to award damages that would compensate at least some victims for a lifetime of medical care -- sums that would likely run into millions of dollars and exceed the state cap.
The trial judge would then decide whether the cap applied. Whichever side lost that argument would appeal to the state Court of Appeals and ultimately to the state Supreme Court -- a process that could take years.
The family of one of the teens that contracted E. coli poisoning at a Washington camp last summer has sued Spokane Produce Inc. County health officials implicated the firm's romaine lettuce as the possible source of infection. But Spokane Produce says the lawsuit hinges on a flawed investigation by local health officials and that the scientific evidence falls short of implicating the company's product.
Last July, health officials investigated an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at a summer dance camp after some 50 campers complained of nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Investigators with the Spokane Regional Health District conducted several inspections of the camp, tested water samples, interviewed food service staff, and polled campers on diet choices in search of the cause of the outbreak. By July 31, 33 cases of E. coli O157:H7 were confirmed by culture in Spokane County. The food surveys showed a strong association between a salad offered at the camp and a culture-confirmed gastroenteritis, said a report issued by the Spokane Regional Health District.
At the same time, reports of E. coli infection sprung up in other locations; some samples matched the campers' stool samples, while others didn't. Those patients whose infection matched the campers remembered eating a salad containing romaine lettuce at Walla Walla and Spokane restaurants, both of which were later traced to Spokane Produce, said the local health department's report.
With data from the dance camp and the Walla Walla case, FDA moved quickly to implicate Spokane Produce's romaine lettuce as the culprit and issued a nationwide alert advising the public to throw out the company's bagged, prewashed, precut romaine lettuce. Sources say documents unearthed in preparation for the legal battle show Washington health officials were concerned that FDA moved too fast to issue the product withdrawal announcement.
Company says the investigation was mishandled.
FDA investigated the Spokane Produce plant, took hundreds of samples and found no evidence of E. coli O157:H7 at the company facility, nor has any E. coli O157 been found on any of the company's lettuce, said Gregory Arpin, an attorney who represents Spokane Produce.
The company says the investigation was mishandled, because health investigators sent out an incomplete survey to campers and employees who were asked whether they ate a Caesar salad with romaine lettuce at a July 11 dinner. Investigators failed to mention in the first survey that a tossed salad, with lettuce supplied from another company, was also offered that night. To clarify the survey, investigators sent another survey out on July 31-Aug. 1, just after FDA had sent out its July 29 nationwide warning about romaine lettuce. The risk ratio of people who got sick after eating the Caesar salad dropped when results of the second survey were analyzed, Arpin said.
Concerning the Walla Walla incident, documents show lettuce from Spokane Produce was either already consumed or thrown out by the time that person could have been served the salad, the company will argue. The surveys, which are critical in outbreak investigations, could raise questions about the scientific evidence supporting the government's charge that only romaine lettuce could have caused all the illnesses. The produce firm also suggests that other leads, such as whether the water supplied in the camp or whether at least one camper who showed up already sick at the Washington camp, weren't followed up on.
I say not enough was done.
Spokane Produce washed and cleaned the lettuce, but it was not enough. Kids still got sick. My client, Angela Hadley, developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening condition, and may have long-term kidney problems as a result of exposure to E. coli O157:H7. The likelihood that another source caused the outbreak is slim, since health investigators found other people whose illness matched the campers' fingerprint and who ate the lettuce.
The lawsuit is based largely on the county health department's report on the outbreak and the government's conclusion that the produce company should be held responsible for her illness. Even if FDA moved too quickly to issue the warning, it doesn't mean they got it wrong. An investigation of the Eastern Washington University Dining Service, which administered the meals at the camp, didn't identify any food handling practices that might have been a probable source of contamination of the salad.
The lesson for the industry is that produce companies need to learn as much as they can about their suppliers, make clear in contracts where the responsibility lies in the event of a mishap, and have sophisticated traceback systems in place. Some of the California farms that supplied the company's romaine lettuce followed better sanitation procedures than other suppliers.
For now, both sides of the case are waiting on a missing piece in the puzzle: the state health department's report on the outbreak. That report, which has been delayed due to internal personnel changes and competing public health priorities, is close to being completed and may be available in the next few weeks. It will include an analysis of the epidemiological evidence gathered in the case. FDA is not expected to issue a similar report.
In the wake of the now infamous ConAgra ground beef recall that sickened scores of Americans coast to coast, I called upon anyone who would listen in my op-ed piece for the Denver Post to put me out of business - please. I said:
"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 does nothing about it."
I offered a few common sense solutions:
Of course, none of this will eliminate the threat of E. coli entirely, but these steps will enable us to detect it far more quickly, to alert stores and families, and to keep our most vulnerable citizens - kids and seniors - out of harm's way. And, with a little luck, I'll be forced to find a new line of work.
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