Or, at least it’s lawyers do.  I’m always a bit shocked that people other than my mom and dad read my blog.  I was pleased that the lawyers for Malt-O-Meal corrected me on one of my earlier posts (I posted a picture of the wrong product):

Dear Mr. Marler:

We represent Malt-O-Meal Company.  Your web site currently includes a discussion of my client’s ongoing recall of certain lot codes of unsweetened puffed wheat and unsweetened puffed rice cereals.  The photos of Malt-O-Meal cereals that are prominently displayed on your site do not include either of the products involved in the recall, but rather are of brands that have not been implicated or recalled.  We believe this is inaccurate and misleading, and could cause confusion to consumers. Photos of the products that are being recalled are available at www.maltomeal.com/recallinfo.

We request that you delete those incorrect photographs from the site as soon as possible to avoid confusion on this important issue.

Thank you.  We look forward to your response.

James A. O’Neal
Amy R. Freestone
Faegre & Benson LLP
2200 Wells Fargo Center
90 S. Seventh St.
Minneapolis, MN 55402
(612) 766-7000

Here are the correct photos:

According to the CDC’s most recent count, as of April 14 the outbreak had sickened 23 patients in 14 states, including two cases each were reported in New Hampshire and Massachusetts with California, Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Vermont each reported one case.  Maine, New Jersey and New York each reported three cases.  Illness onset dates were known for nine patients and ranged from January 22 to March 2.  Patients’ ages range from 1 to 95 years and 62% are female.  Three hospitalizations have been reported, but no deaths.  The CDC said the PulseNet system notified its outbreak team on April 7 about a cluster of human Salmonella Agona isolates from several states that had the same genetic fingerprint.

In 1998, Malt-O-Meal  recalled as much as 3 million pounds of its plain toasted oat cereal after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that it was the likely source of Salmonella Agona food poisoning.  At least 17 Washington state children became ill with Salmonella infections, and litigation resulted.