Obama Eating A Burger - A "Teachable Moment" in Food Safety

So, what is the big deal? President Obama ordered a medium-well burger for himself and the VP, and ordered medium burgers for the press – in a restaurant with a spotty food safety record that does not use, or may not even have, a thermometer. Forgoing the phrase “teachable moment” for a bit, I would like to get right to the “meat” of the matter. What Obama did was foolish - in the view of many food safety experts - but it is something that many consumers do every day; they order a burger from their favorite restaurant or cook it themselves on the backyard grill.

Food safety professionals inside and outside government will tell you that medium or medium-well means nothing in the food safety world – temperature is the key. Pink or brown color is not a good indicator of “doneness.” Temperature on the inside of the burger (at several places) of 155 to 160 degrees (rules vary a bit state to state) is the only way to assure that the burger is safe. Yet less that 2% of consumers use or own a thermometer. Restaurants are required to have thermometers, but not necessarily use them. So, why do consumers - including the President - ignore the advice of experts who are trying to protect them from the bacteria and viruses lurking in their cheeseburgers that can sicken or kill them or their children?

What consumers believe, including the President apparently, is what they hear every day from Government officials and the Beef Industry – “Our Food Supply Is The Safest In the World”. Compared to China? Great! Clearly, any food safety message is missed, because of lack of honesty (hamburger really may contain animal feces that can sicken or kill you!) and lack of education (why don’t we teach kids how to cook safely in addition to teaching them to wear seatbelts and shun smoking?)

So, what is a President to do - avoid hamburgers? Well, I do (and so does my family) ever since the Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak of 1993 that sickened nearly 600, caused acute kidney failure in 50 and killed four children - but that is just me.

Full disclosure, I am a trial lawyer who represents victims of foodborne illness. I have seen too much misery, and yes, death, caused by failures in food production at every stage of the food supply. If you do not think our food supply is dangerous, then just open a newspaper, turn on the radio or TV or surf the Internet. Foodborne illness outbreaks linked to all types of food (including hamburger) are nearly a daily occurrence. However, the Government and Industry keep telling us its safe and we seem to believe it.

So, what is a President to do?

First call the head of Food Safety Inspection Services (actually, a spot yet to be filled) and ask him why there is cow feces in hamburger meat in the first place. Also, while you have him on the phone, ask about Salmonella, Listeria, MRSA and all the other bugs that may have been in the hamburger you ate the other day.

Next, be honest with the American Public. With 76,000,000 foodborne illnesses cases yearly, 325, 000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, our food supply might be safer than China’s – but it is not safe enough.

Third, put food safety on the “front burner” and turn up the heat. It is time that we commit to the American Public to get animal feces out of our food. How to do it:

A. Revise food regulations to criminalize manufacturers who sell food that poisons consumers. I am not suggesting the “China Method,” but it is time to impose stiff fines, and jail sentences for businesses that kill kids;

B. Give tax credits and other incentives to businesses that invest in safe food methods and technology. Remind me, how many billions have we given the banks? Perhaps it is time to invest in those who will actually invest in us;

C. Increase the surveillance of foodborne diseases. Right now, for every one person counted in an outbreak, we miss another 20 to 40. This causes delays in determining what food product is sickening our neighbors allowing hundreds of others to become sick before we figure out what product to pull;

D. Fully fund Local, State and Federal Health and Food Inspectors and give them the legislative and financial tools to get the job done.

The “teachable moment” is simply that the hamburger that the President ordered on Monday should not put him at risk for getting sick on Thursday. That is true for all of us and all the food that we eat. The “teachable moment” has passed, the real question is, “did we learn anything?’

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Food Poisoning Attorney
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The Essential Summer BBQ Accessory

Going to a BBQ? Bring your meat thermometer, The Essential Summer BBQ Accessory.

"The only safe hamburger is one cooked to 160 degrees," says Nancy Donley, president of the nonprofit Safe Tables Our Priority, a food-safety advocacy group. "Research has shown color is not a reliable indicator."

Donley learned about food safety the hard way seven years ago when her 6-year-old son died of HUS from eating an E. coli contaminated hamburger.

What worries Donley is that the E. coli situation may not have improved much, despite a number of well-publicized cases, including a 1993 outbreak linked to undercooked burgers from Jack in the Box restaurants and a spate of 1996 cases linked to Odwalla brand fruit juice.

Donley says that about half the cattle that come in for slaughter have some exposure to E. coli, and that ground meat samples tested by the federal government are turning up higher amounts of bacteria than before -- although this may be because of better testing.

"The slaughterhouse market is relatively unchanged since Sinclair Lewis wrote The Jungle," says Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who has represented victims of some of the most notorious food poisoning cases of the last decade, including the Jack in the Box and Odwalla cases. He holds this opinion despite the fact that some plants have adopted new Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) quality-control procedures to keep contamination down.


"The concept is great," Marler says. "You look at those particular areas with the potential for contamination and focus on it and deal with it. In reality, it still takes a commitment by the company." Still, he adds, "I think you have got to have oversight in addition to HACCP. You can't let your own industry regulate itself."

As consumers, we can't trust that what we're eating is safe.

Proper cooking is of key importance, but it's not the only thing. Raw meat should be handled very carefully, all the way from the grocery story to the plate.

Posted on October 22, 2004 by Marler Lawyer
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