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

In late October 2003, Beaver County ER doctors reported an alarming number of Hepatitis A cases. Investigators from the Pennsylvania Department of Health initiated an investigation immediately and discovered that many, if not all, cases had eaten at Chi Chi’s restaurant in Monaca, Pennsylvania’s Beaver Valley Mall. Along with the health department, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted further studies of the outbreak. Preliminary analysis of a case-control study suggested that green onions were the probable source of the outbreak. The onions had been shipped to the restaurant in boxes and were stored and refrigerated in buckets of ice. They were eventually chopped up and served in various dishes at the restaurant, often uncooked, as in the preparation of mild salsa. “Preliminary trace-back information indicated that the green onions supplied to Chi Chi’s had been grown in Mexico.” Ultimately, over 650 people were sickened in the outbreak. The victims included at least thirteen Chi Chi’s employees and numerous residents of six other states. Four people died from their injuries, and more than 9,000 people obtained immune globulin shots as protection against the virus. This is the story of one of those cases (click below to see short quicktime video):

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

According to the Kern Faculty Medical Group, they expect to have enough hepatitis A vaccine shots after supplies temporarily ran out Saturday. The medical group had given about 90 vaccine shots Saturday morning before supplies ran out, said Dr. Mansukh Ghadiya with the clinic.  Public health officials made arrangements with Kern Faculty Medical Group for people who needed the vaccine or other treatment after news a worker at Chuy's Mesquite Broiler (not to be confused with the Chuy’s in Austin Texas which was famous for serving alcohol to one of the under-age Bush girls) was diagnosed with hepatitis A was released last week.  I bet Chuy's wished they required Hepatitis A vaccines of all employees.

In that last several years we have represented health departments who pay for these shots, the people who stand in line waiting to get them and those unfortunate enough to not get the shots in time. Restaurants have included, Houlihan's, Carl's Jr., Chi-Chi's, D'Angelo's, Friendly's, Maple Lawn Dairy, McDonald's, Quizno's, Silver Grill Location Catering, Subway and Taco Bell.

Hepatitis A is one of five human hepatitis viruses (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E) that primarily infect the liver and cause illness. An estimated 80,000 cases occur each year in the U.S., although much higher estimates have been proposed based on mathematical modeling of the past incidence of infection. Each year, an estimated 100 persons die as a result of acute liver failure in the U.S. due to hepatitis A, but the rate of infection has dramatically decreased since the hepatitis A vaccine was licensed and became available in the U.S. in 1995.

Hepatitis A is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person-to-person. It is spread almost exclusively through fecal-oral contact, generally from person-to-person, or via contaminated food or water. Food contaminated with the virus is the most common vehicle transmitting hepatitis A. The food preparer or cook is the individual most often contaminating the food, although he or she is generally not ill at the time of food preparation. The peak time of infectivity, when the most virus is present in the stool of an infectious individual, is during the two weeks before illness begins. Although only a small percentage of hepatitis A infections are associated with foodborne transmission, foodborne outbreaks have been increasingly implicated as a significant source of hepatitis A infection.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.

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."

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks (1)
• Share Link

Two East Tennessee counties, Campbell and Scott, have reported an increased incidence of hepatitis A cases for the second time this year. The East Tennessee Regional Health Department has confirmed eight cases of hepatitis A since June 25, and the Health Department is working to determine the source of a potential outbreak. In April, 2005, 23 cases were confirmed in Campbell, Scott, and Anderson counties, but health officials were unable to pinpoint the source of the earlier outbreak.

Hepatitis A is a virus that primarily infects the liver. Symptoms of infection may not appear for 15-50 days after exposure to the virus. They include muscle aches, headache, loss of appetite, abdominal discomfort, fever, and malaise. After a few days of initial symptoms, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes) sets in. In rare cases, the hepatitis A virus causes liver failure and impairs the infected person's cognitive functioning.

"Ideally, outbreaks would be prevented by vaccination against hepatitis A," said William Marler, a Seattle attorney with a law practice dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness. "I've represented hundreds of people in the last two years who either became ill with, or were exposed to, the hepatitis A virus. Some have had liver transplants, or even died after suffering from acute hepatitis A infection." The CDC estimates that at least 100 people die each year after suffering from hepatitis A-induced liver failure.

"This is the second time since April that public health has been put at risk in East Tennessee. People need to know that outbreaks can be prevented through widespread vaccination against hepatitis A. It's time to take this threat more seriously and do what we can to stop outbreaks before they start," Marler concluded.

Marler has represented hundreds of victims of hepatitis A outbreaks, including over 75 victims of a 2003 hepatitis A outbreak in Pennsylvania that was traced to contaminated green onions, and 29 people who were infected with hepatitis A after being exposed at a Seattle Subway sandwich shop. Marler Clark has also represented thousands of people who were forced to receive Immune Globulin injections to prevent infection with hepatitis A after they were exposed to the virus by infected food handlers.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

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.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As the AP has reported, the bankrupt Chi-Chi's Inc. and its subsidiaries have tentatively agreed to pay $800,000 to compensate nearly 9,500 people who got inoculated because of a hepatitis outbreak linked to a western Pennsylvania restaurant.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the class action settlement agreement, which must still be filed in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware, from William Marler, a Seattle attorney who represents the plaintiffs' class.

The victims will split $800,000, but how much each gets will be determined by how many of them eventually file claims with the court, Marler said. His firm will get a fee of $150,000, though Marler said that money would be donated to charity after his firm pays $50,000 in expenses spelled out in the deal.

"With class actions what's bothered me in the past is that everybody (the plaintiffs) gets a coupon and the lawyers get a million dollars," Marler said.

Four people died and more than 650 people were sickened by tainted green onions served at the restaurant at Beaver Valley Mall in western Pennsylvania.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

In the last two weeks 1,200 High School and Elementary School students from Stockton, California, 5,000 patrons of a Clinton, Tennessee Waffle House, and thousands who ate a Norfolk, Virgina Soul Food Restaurant all have something in common - all are being urged to get Immune Globulin (Ig) shots to prevent the infection and further spread of hepatitis A after being exposed to a hepatitis A infected foodservice worker.

It seems that hardly a month passes without a warning from a health department somewhere that an infected food handler is the source of yet another potential hepatitis A outbreak. Absent vaccinations of food handlers, combined with an effective and rigorous hand washing policy, there will continue to be more hepatitis A outbreaks. It is time for health departments across the country to require vaccinations of foodservice workers, especially those that serve the very young and the elderly.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 83,000 cases of hepatitis A occur in the United States every year, and that many of these cases are related to foodborne transmission. In 1999, over 10,000 people were hospitalized due to hepatitis A infections and 83 people died. In 2003, 650 people became sickened, 4 died and nearly 10,000 people got Ig shots after eating at a Pennsylvania restaurant. Not only do customers get sick, but businesses lose customers or some simply go out of business.

Although the CDC has not yet called for mandatory vaccination of foodservice workers, it has repeatedly pointed out that the consumption of worker-contaminated food is a major cause of food borne illness in the United States.

Hepatitis A continues to be one of the most frequently reported, vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, despite the FDA-approval of hepatitis A vaccine in 1995. Widespread vaccination of appropriate susceptible populations would substantially lower disease incidence and potentially eliminate indigenous transmission of hepatitis A infections. Vaccinations cost about $50. The major economic reason that these preventative shots have not been used is because of the high turnover rate of foodservice employees. The argument is that why should I vaccinate my employee only to have them leave in a few months to another restaurant? That argument disappears, and eating out becomes a whole lot less of a gamble, if all foodservice workers faced the same requirement.

According to the CDC, the costs associated with hepatitis A are substantial. Between 11% and 22% of persons who have hepatitis A are hospitalized. Adults who become ill lose an average of 27 days of work. Health departments incur substantial costs in providing post-exposure prophylaxis to an average of 11 contacts per case. Average costs (direct and indirect) of hepatitis A range from $1,817 to $2,459 per case for adults and from $433 to $1,492 per case for children less than 18 years of age. In 1989, the estimated annual direct and indirect costs of hepatitis A in the United States were more than $200 million, equivalent to more than $300 million in 1997 dollars.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Nearly 1,200 High School and Elementary School students are being urged to get Immune Globulin shots to prevent the spread of hepatitis A after being exposed to a hepatitis A positive cafeteria worker.

"It seems that a month hardly passes without a warning from a health department somewhere that an infected food handler is the source of a potential hepatitis A outbreak," said attorney William Marler, managing partner of the Seattle law firm of Marler Clark. "Absent vaccinations of food handlers, combined with an effective and rigorous hand washing policy, there will be more hepatitis A outbreaks. It is time for health departments to require vaccinations of food handlers, especially those that serve the very young and the elderly" added Marler.

The average incubation period for hepatitis A infection is thirty days, but can be as long as fifty days. Preventive measures are only available for the two weeks after exposure to the virus; therefore, those patrons who ate at the school cafeteria between April 13 and 15 and were exposed to the virus should now be on the look-out for signs of hepatitis A infection.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 83,000 cases of hepatitis A occur in the United States every year, and at least five percent of these cases are related to foodborne transmission. In 1999, over 10,000 people were hospitalized due to hepatitis A infections and 83 people died. Although the CDC has not called for mandatory vaccination of food service workers, it has repeatedly pointed out that the consumption of worker-contaminated food is a major cause of food borne illness in the United States.

Large, well-publicized hepatitis A outbreaks have become increasingly common in the restaurant industry, including outbreaks linked to last week to a Waffle House in Tennessee, green onions served at a Chi-Chi's restaurant in Pennsylvania last year, and outbreaks linked to infected food workers at two Seattle Subway franchises, a Carl's Jr. restaurant in Spokane, Washington, three restaurants in Northwest Arkansas, a large wedding party in Michigan, which resulted in a death, and a large outbreak caused by a deli, D'Angelo's, in Massachusetts. Thousands of people are forced to receive Immune Globulin injections to prevent infection every year.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

It seems that a month hardly passes without a warning from a health department somewhere that an infected food handler is the source of a potential hepatitis A outbreak, which further proves that the restaurant industry should act now and require vaccination of its employees.

Now the Regional Health Department has confirmed that a foodservice worker who worked at the Waffle House restaurant located at off Highway 61 in Clinton tested positive for hepatitis A. People who ate at the restaurant between April 1 and April 15, during the time when the worker was infectious, are now at risk for developing hepatitis A infection. The infected Waffle House worker is suspected to be the victim of a larger outbreak of hepatitis A that is believed to have caused at least 17 acute hepatitis A infections. Health officials have traced the outbreak to a restaurant in LaFollette.

The Regional Health Department organized a clinic to inoculate patrons of the restaurant who ate there between April 5 and April 15. The average incubation period for hepatitis A infection is thirty days, but can be as long as fifty days. A person who is infected with hepatitis A is infectious for the two weeks pervious to symptom onset and for two weeks thereafter. Immune globulin shots prevent hepatitis A infection, but only if administered during the two weeks following exposure to the virus.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Folks who received an inoculation shot after the hepatitis A scare surrounding Arlington's now-closed Friendly's last year might be entitled to compensation thanks to the settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed jointly by Marler Clark and local counsel Sabra and Aspden. The terms of the settlement were approved by the Middlesex Superior Court in February, and if finalized in June, would allow qualifying individuals to receive a lump sum of $200 from Friendly's. Effected individuals were recently sent notification.

Qualifying individuals are requested to submit claims by May 30 to be included in the settlement class.

As a precaution last June, the Arlington Board of Health hosted a three-day clinic to administer immune globulin shots to the nearly 3,000 people who said they had eaten at the Friendly's on Broadway (which will soon become an East Cambridge Savings Bank) from June 4 to 15, the time in which they might have been exposed to the disease.

Later that month, lawyers from Marler Clark of Seattle, and Sabra and Aspden of Somerset, filed the class-action suit against Friendly's on behalf of plaintiff Frederick C. Foster, a Boston resident, and all others who had been potentially exposed to the illness and would have had to receive the immune globulin shots.

Foster said he and others had missed work to get the needed inoculation and should be compensated for lost wages, emotional distress and any other medical-related expenses.

On Feb. 8, the Middlesex County Superior Court approved a proposed settlement between the two parties, determining that anyone who had received an inoculation shot because they had either eaten food from Friendly's between June 4 and 15, or been exposed to individuals infected with hepatitis A from Friendly's food, would be entitled to file a claim.

The court required the Board of Health to release the names of all individuals who had received immune globulin shots at any of the three days of the clinic.

The court also ordered that the number of claimants in the suit should not exceed 3,000 and appointed Marler Clark and Sabra and Aspden as counsel to the class.

At a fairness hearing set for June 22, the court will consider all submitted claims and also determine whether to award an attorney fee of $45,000.

Friendly's has already reimbursed the town $55,000 for the costs of running the clinics, which includes a $40,000 reimbursement for supplies, the hiring of nurses and overtime pay, and $15,000 for the police details. The immune globulin was provided free of charge by the state.

After the hepatitis A scare and the eatery subsequently failed two Board of Health inspections, Friendly's closed the Broadway location last August.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

As the Associated Press reported today, Marler Clark has filed yet another lawsuit against McDonalds. This one is on behalf of Helen Cook who contracted hepatitis A after eating a sandwich at a Mount Vernon McDonald's restaurant.

From the article:

"It just underscores the need for fast-food restaurants to be ever vigilant about how they handle their product, how they cook their product and who they have working," Marler said.

As I told the AP, Cook ate breakfast at the Mount Vernon McDonald's before going to a nearby nursing home to care for her mother. She began to feel sick during a trip to Palm Springs, Calif., when she suffered from fatigue, cold sweats and abdominal soreness. After suffering intense pain and vomiting in April, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with hepatitis.The Skagit County Health Department, which had reports of nine cases of hepatitis-A in the area, traced the outbreak to the McDonald's, where an assistant manager had the virus and continued to work.

Her illness is a reminder of how vulnerable Americans have become to disease transmitted through food.

This the second I have filed against the same restaurant. The previous suit sought damages on behalf of Nyssa Hall, then 6, who was sickened by E. coli bacteria from undercooked hamburger. That lawsuit was settled.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm nationally-known for its successful representation of persons injured in food-borne illness outbreaks, today announced that it had obtained a $1.06 million settlement on behalf of 29 persons infected with the Hepatitis A virus as a result of eating contaminated food at two local Subway Sandwich franchises.

"This is truly a superior result," said Denis Stearns, a partner at the Marler Clark law firm. "While no amount of money can ever give back the time lost by our clients to this painful disease, or erase their painful memories, we are confident that this settlement will go a long way toward putting our clients' lives back on track." Stearns added, "More importantly, this settlement sends a strong message to restaurant owners that they will be held accountable for the sale of food contaminated by hepatitis-infected food workers."

Three months ago, the Marler Clark attorneys called on restaurants to voluntarily vaccinate all workers against Hepatitis A. At the time, the law firm's managing partner, William Marler, noted that: "In the last six months there have been Hepatitis A outbreaks linked to two Seattle restaurants, a Carl's Jr. fastfood restaurant in Spokane, a restaurant in Minnesota, and three restaurants in Northwest Arkansas. Even worse, more than 700 children are being vaccinated against this potentially deadly virus in California after consumption of potentially contaminated strawberries." Marler continued, "Restaurants and food manufacturers must take action and voluntarily vaccinate all of their employees."

The CDC estimates that 83,000 cases of Hepatitis A occur in the United States every year, and at least 5% of these cases are related to foodborne transmission. While the CDC has stopped short of calling for the mandatory vaccination of food workers, it has repeatedly pointed out that the consumption of worker-contaminated food is a major cause of foodborne illness in the United States. In 1999 alone, over 10,000 people were hospitalized as a result of hepatitis A infections, and 83 people died.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link