January 2011

The first annual Reportable Food Registry Report shows that, as Congress intended, the RFR can help FDA track patterns of food and feed adulteration and target FDA’s inspection resources to identify adulterated food/feed and prevent foodborne illnesses.

“This report is a measure of our success in receiving early warning on problems with food and feed,&rdquo

bravo-farms-dutch-style-raw-milk-gouda-cheese.jpgBruce Finley of the Denver Post profiled our client Madisyn Kirby who was sickened in the E. coli outbreak linked to Bravo Farms Gouda cheese sold at Costco.

Three months after she sampled Gouda cheese at a Costco and got sick, a Colorado teenager and her family have bolstered their defenses.

No more ground beef.

fishing_net.jpgThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that the Portland Shellfish Co., Inc.; Jeffrey D. Holden, company president; Satyavan Singh, quality manager; and John A. Maloney, general manager, have signed a consent decree prohibiting them from distributing seafood in interstate commerce until the FDA has approved in writing the company’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plans, sanitation program and Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) testing program.

The seafood processor, based in Portland, Maine, sells ready-to-eat lobster, shrimp and crab products to retailers in Massachusetts, California, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, Washington, New Jersey and Louisiana.

The consent decree, entered by Judge John A. Woodcock in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, on Jan. 20, 2011, stems from evidence that Portland Shellfish violated the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act by introducing into interstate commerce food that was prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions.Continue Reading FDA Lowers the Net on Portland Shellfish Due to Listeria

Screen shot 2011-01-20 at 9.58.53 AM.pngI was asked by a reporter yesterday why I work as hard as I do and seem to spend so much time in airplanes and airports. Here are just a couple of reasons, and a couple of clients:

In 2007, a 19-year-old dancer, Stephanie Smith, sickened by E. coli-tainted hamburger, was left brain damaged and

Yesterday, the Packer online newspaper reported on yet another settlement in the 2006 Dole Spinach E. coli case.  I had a chance to talk with the reporter on the scope of the outbreak and, what appears to be, the end of the litigation:

“My understanding is that there are no more lawsuits out there,” he

UNITED LOGO.gifUnited Food Group, LLC, a California business, is recalling approximately 7,875 pounds of ready-to-eat Angus Beef patties that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The products subject to recall include 22.5-pound cases of “FULLY COOKED BLACK ANGUS GROUND BEEF STEAK PATTIES,” with each case containing 75 individual 4.8-ounce patties.  Each package bears the establishment number