October 2007

It was much easier to track the illnesses caused by Topps E. coli contaminated hamburger as there is a report on-line on the CDC website and the 21,000,000 pounds of hamburger recalled.  No such luck with being able to see the same on the Cargill recall.   Remember, Cargill recalled nearly 1,000,000 pounds of E.


Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157 Infections Linked to Topp’s Brand Ground Beef Patties

CDC reports as of 12 PM (ET) October 18, 2007, 40 cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection have been identified with PFGE patterns that match at least one of the patterns of E. coli strains found in Topp’s brand frozen ground…

A Banquet frozen turkey pot pie has tested positive for salmonella, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection laboratory and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.  The unopened pot pie came from the freezer of an individual diagnosed with salmonella in September.  We filed our second lawsuit against ConAgra…

So, yesterday I was at the CDC/USDA/FSIS/FDA sponsored meeting on whether non-E. coli O157:H7 shiga toxins should be considered an adulterant in food and had the opportunity to talk briefly with Dr. Raymond of FSIS about the status of the Topps investigation specifically, and the meat industry in general.  I do love my job.  Sometimes I am not quite sure what bloggger Jane Genova means, but I do love my job.

The below letter must have arrived at his office about the same time I sued Topps (again).  From the Ithaca, New York Paper:

“We are asking for punitive damages because had the company acted responsibly and recalled its products the day they discovered the E. coli contamination, Kristin and her son’s infections could have been prevented,” said attorney William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark. “It was poor judgment on the part of Topps, and although Topps paid for this mistake by going out of business, consumers like the Goodwins paid with their health.”

Senator Durbin below outlines quite well many of the issues in the case and ones I tend to explore inside of a courtroom with Topps and USDA officials under oath. I hope Senator Durbin, and other members of congress, follow up on these issues and other food safety challenges facing our country.

October 17, 2007

Dr. Richard Raymond
Under Secretary
Food Safety Inspection Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250

Dear Dr. Raymond:

I am writing in response to the recent string of recalls of ground beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. The safety of our nations food is dependent on the commitment and diligence of food manufacturers, combined with the insistent oversight of food safety inspectors. Any lapses must beswiftly addressed. We must not accept the status quo when it comes to foodborne illnesses.

It is alarming that, following several years of reductions in the number of cases of E. coli infections, we are now witnessing a sharp rise in both the number of incidents requiring a recall and the number people infected by this harmful bacteria. In 2007 alone, there have been 16 separate and independent recalls of ground beef due to E. coli, resulting in dozens of cases of significant foodborne illnesses and more than 28 million pounds of product being removed from the stream of commerce. This spike warrants additional attention.

See full text of letter below:Continue Reading You have to love the timing

Herb Weisbaum, aka, “ The Consumer Man” wrote:


It has been a really bad year for the meat industry. A record 29 million pounds of contaminated ground beef has been recalled so far this year. The culprit is E. coli O157:H7, the same nasty bacteria that caused the widely publicized Jack in the Box outbreak in 1993 and the nationwide spinach recall last year. No one has the exact numbers, but this bad meat has sickened dozens of people across the country, and in some cases, changed their lives forever.

Cynthia Cintura, a mother in Hemet, Calif., made spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner back in May. Two days later, her daughter Lauren — only 4-years-old at the time — became extremely ill.

“It was the worst experience of my life.” Cintura says. “Every day I was just basically praying, hoping that she would get through this.” Lauren spent three weeks at San Diego Children’s Hospital. It took eight dialysis treatments and five blood transfusions to save her life. Doctors say she could develop kidney or liver problems as she grows older. “Our food is supposed to be safe,” Lauren’s mother says. “Well, it’s definitely not safe enough.”

“We don’t know why we’re seeing this blip,” says Dr. David Goldman of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. In fact, the uptick comes as a surprise to everyone. Until this summer, great progress had been made in reducing E. coli contamination in ground beef.

Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who represents more E. coli victims than any other lawyer in the country, blames both the government and industry. He calls some of USDA’s policies “silly” and he says the meat industry has gotten “a little bit lazy.” A few weeks ago, he called for congressional hearings into the situation.Continue Reading Why is E. coli making a comeback? – USDA’s lack of teeth, industry’s ‘lazy’ practices to blame for outbreaks

While I was sitting in a USDA/FSIS/FDA/CDC meeting on E. coli today, we also filed a lawsuit seeking punitive damages against Topps, the New Jersey beef supplier that recalled nearly a year’s supply of frozen ground beef patties after its products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak in September. The lawsuit…

I’m off to the “other Washington” in the morning to meet with Congressmen and Senators on food safety issues and to attend a conference on E. coli.  I know, ya’ll wish you were going.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety…