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

At least 29 pupils at San Jose Elementary School in Magini, Bohol, Philippines died of likely cyanide poisoning on Wednesday after eating carmelized cassava roots. Health officials said 50 pupils are in critical condition, and at least 100 students became ill with food poisoning after being served the sweetened cassava roots at school. Cassava plant species are known to produce cyanide when ingested, but if the roots are cooked properly before they are eaten, they are non-toxic.

School food poisoning is not uncommon. For decades, health officials have reported outbreaks of illness among students throughout the world that have been served school lunches and snacks that made them sick. In the last ten years, children in United States schools have been served foods containing such pathogens as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and toxic chemicals such as anhydrous ammonia. A 2003 study published by the US General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that half of school-related food poisoning was caused by poor preparation techniques by foodservice workers.

"In this most recent instance in the Philippines, it is clear that proper preparation techniques were not used," said William Marler, an attorney with Marler Clark who represents victims of food poisoning. "In countries where cassava is eaten, there is a known risk of serving this root when it is under-cooked. One wonders why it was allowed in the school to begin with."

"Parents around the world send their children to school every day without second-guessing that the food they eat will be safe. But reality is, we all need to take a second look at what our kids are being served at school," Marler concluded.

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As the Post-Dispatch reported on February 25, a manager for a warehouse and transportation company in Madison admitted last month to illegally ordering that boxes of chicken be labeled and shipped without proper inspection - including some sent to a school in Joliet, Ill., where dozens of people fell ill.

Edward L. Wuebbels, the manager at Lanter Co., which was under contract with the Illinois State Board of Education to store and ship school lunches, pleaded guilty in federal court in East St. Louis of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture and making false statements. He will face a sentence estimated at 24 to 30 months in prison.

According to court documents, the problem began Nov. 19, 2001, with an ammonia leak at the St. Louis warehouse of Gateway Cold Storage. Officials believed that the chicken, in sealed plastic, could be repackaged and relabeled without harm to consumers.

But Wuebbels asked Gateway to ship the product to Lanter, and ordered employees there to do the repackaging and relabeling even though it is not an approved inspection site. As a result, the product was not properly inspected.

From 300 to 600 boxes were shipped, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Smith. Most were not affected by the ammonia. But a shipment to Laraway Elementary School in Joliet had been contaminated and was prepared on Nov. 25, 2002, officials said.

When it was cooked, there was a smell of ammonia in the air, Smith said.

An estimated 170 people who ate the chicken complained of stomach aches, and 60 went to hospitals. Most were treated and released; none was permanently injured.

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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."

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The families of 11 children sickened by E. coli bacteria in a school lunch nearly five years ago will likely get the $4.6 million awarded by a jury.

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.

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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.

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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."

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