You might recall a blog post I did from January of 2008 where I discussed testing retail ground beef for Non-O157:H7 Pathogenic Shiga Toxin Producing E. coli (STEC). We have completed a portion of the first year’s tests and are in the process of compiling the data. We hope to publish the results in the
Next Agriculture Secretary Should Have Food Safety, Nutrition, and Environmental Focus – I could not agree more
According to a press release circulated today, much of the media speculation on who the next Secretary of Agriculture will be focuses on candidates lacking experience with food safety, nutrition, or environmental issues—issues which are at the heart of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s mission. Consumer advocates and other public interest groups are today urging
Irish Pork Dioxin Recalled in US – Finally!
Days after Europe was well on the way recalling all the little piggies who went to market, today Rupari Food Services, a Deerfield Beach, Fl., establishment, is recalling approximately 41,020 pounds of fresh pork products that may be contaminated with dioxins, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today. FSIS was
China and Food Safety – What I learned about the US Legal System
From a speech I gave yesterday to the Washington State Bar Association:
A few months ago I was invited by the Chinese Government to speak at a food safety conference in Beijing. A week before I arrived, I was asked not to talk about the now erupting infant formula scandal. I did not oblige.
Later that week, I found myself sitting in the posh lobby of the Beijing Ritz Carlton chatting with a young lawyer who was clearly a first time visitor to the hotel. He was a skinny, 30-something, very serious and earnest, draped in an ill-fitting suit. As we spoke through an interpreter, he occasionally excused himself to take cell phone calls from parents of kids sickened by the melamine-tainted infant formula. He wanted to go to court to force Sanlu (an infant formula company owned jointly by the Chinese Government and a New Zealand Corporation) to pay his clients’ medical bills. He was seeking no fee. He wanted justice, but was being discouraged by the government and his own profession from representing these families. He was frustrated; understandably intimidated, and a bit scared, but kept taking the calls. You might now know that a few lawsuits have been filed on behalf of the nearly 300,000 children sickened. What the Chinese legal system does with them is still unclear.
That conversation—and my entire experience in China—left me rethinking my profession and the role of law and lawyers in a free society. I thought how blessed I am that when a client hires me to prosecute a claim, I seldom think twice who the defendant is. I certainly never worry that the bar association or government will tell me who I can or cannot represent. I never worry that my clients’ or my freedoms could be in jeopardy for making a claim.Continue Reading China and Food Safety – What I learned about the US Legal System
Report Finds Economic Crisis Hurting U.S. Food Safety Preparedness
Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today released the sixth annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism Report, which finds that progress made to better protect the country from disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and bioterrorism is now at risk, due to budget cuts and
Recall of Dry Dog and Cat Food Products Associated with Human Salmonella Schwarzengrund Infections — United States, 2008
I know economic times are tough, but human illnesses associated with dog and cat food? No, really, it is unlikely, but possible, that people consumed it out of necessity. However, it is more likely that ii is cross-contamination during the feeding of your pet. So, the next time your kid refuses to feed the dog
This little piggy will not make it to market – dioxin in your Irish sausages – Update, not cows too? Sheep next?
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In another great example how interconnected a “farm to fork” food chain can be, a friend of mine sent me this article from AP Ireland, “Oil-tainted feed causes Irish pork crisis.”
The beginning of this food crisis (as opposed to all the others that we read about daily) according to Irish Agriculture Department is that
Speech – “Chasing the Ambulance Away: Reshaping the Role of the Personal Injury Lawyer in Society and the Law”
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This Wednesday I’ll be speaking at the Washington State Bar Association CLE seminar titled Top Lawyers: Learn From Some of Washington’s Best. The smart folks at WSBA realized that law students and young lawyers learn a lot about the law, but rarely hear about career building; building a practice and a life in the law
The American Academy of Pediatrics Warns against Raw Milk
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In the recent volume of AAP News is an article entitled, “advis[ing] families against giving children unpasteurized [raw] milk.” The article could not be clearer in its warning:
Raw or unpasteurized milk can transmit many serious infectious diseases to children. Furthermore, there are no documented health benefits associated with ingestion of unpasteurized milk or milk
China now says 294,000 children fell ill from melamine tainted milk
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China said Monday that a total of 294,000 children had fallen ill from consuming dairy products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, with 154 of them still in serious condition. In a statement on its website, the health ministry also indicated the number of dead may rise from the four previously announced, saying that six