Back in late 2003, Todd Frankel of the Post-Dispatch called dining with me an unusual experience in his article “Seattle attorney is representing 5 of 6 victims in E. coli outbreak,” which referred to the Habaneros E. coli outbreak in Missouri.

I told him:

“I haven’t eaten a hamburger since Jack in the Box,” Marler said, referring to the massive 1993 E. coli outbreak on the West Coast that served as his first experience with his narrow specialty.

“The level of trust we have toward our food supply, in my view, is unwarranted,” Marler said, taking another bite of his salad.

In case you were wondering, I’m still not eating hamburgers.

He also wrote:

He doesn’t go trolling for business, he said. He’s been involved in several high-profile outbreaks: from salmonella in fruit juices to E. coli at an Atlanta water park.

I’m still not trolling. Yet those cases still keep finding me.