May 2007

Health agency investigation

Although statutes and regulations vary from state to state, there are a number of bacterial and viral illnesses associated with food consumption that are monitored by health departments, including E. coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Norovirus, and hepatitis A. For most of these pathogens, a positive lab result from a human

The Legal Process:  Tools used in evaluating claims of foodborne illness

It is predictable that some people are inclined to issue claims of dubious legitimacy, or that are simply fraudulent. In our work as litigators, we see no shortage of bogus claims.   There are claims that food looked or “smelled funny,” claims of finding foreign

Barbara Kowalcyk (former client and friend), the former president of Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.), a national grassroots organization dedicated to preventing foodborne illness, was interviewed by the Daily Record.  She recently co-founded a new nonprofit, the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI). Kowalcyk and her husband, Michael, came to S.T.O.P. in late