I will spare you the list of hepatitis A cases that I have been involved with since 1998 when I represented 30 people exposed in a Seattle, Washington Subway restaurant, including one child who suffered acute liver failure requiring an emergency liver transplant.

There have been dozens in the last 23 years, many with tragic consequences.  Yet, here we are once again.

Now, according to Roanoke Virginia health officials, as of today at least three people are dead in connection with an outbreak of hepatitis A that has been linked to the Famous Anthony’s restaurant chain. Health officials have also confirmed at least 49 cases of the illness, with at least 31 people requiring hospitalization for acute liver failure.  There will likely be additional, secondary cases, in those who cared for close family members.

Health officials have confirmed that one person with hepatitis A worked at three separate Roanoke locations of the Famous Anthony’s chain and exposed patrons to this human fecal virus.

Hepatitis A is considered preventable via good personal hygiene practices such as thorough handwashing and glove wearing. Hepatitis A is the only vaccine preventable foodborne illness. Hepatitis A vaccines are available, and nationwide are given out free by local health departments, or at a cost of less than $100.

The first known fatality in the Famous Anthony’s outbreak was identified as Roanoke County resident James Hamlin, 75, who died October 8th from hepatitis A complications after eating at one of the Famous Anthony’s. I represent James’s widow and the Hamlin family. Two more deaths were confirmed Friday. One of the families will be speaking publicly in the following days.

James Hamlin’s family told local news that the U.S. Army veteran, who served as a Green Beret during the Vietnam War era, seemed strong and healthy until suddenly feeling nauseous and fatigued one day in August. After his symptoms persisted, he was admitted to a hospital and died 10 days later of acute liver failure.

He survived Vietnam but dies due to exposure to an unvaccinated food handler who did not properly was his or her hands or wear gloves.

Here is what the CDC continues to say about vaccinating food handlers:

Why does CDC not recommend all food handlers be vaccinated if an infected food handler can spread disease during outbreaks?

CDC does not recommend vaccinating all food handlers because doing so would not prevent or stop the ongoing outbreaks primarily affecting individuals who report using or injecting drugs and people experiencing homelessness. Food handlers are not at increased risk for hepatitis A because of their occupation. During ongoing outbreaks, transmission from food handlers to restaurant patrons has been extremely rare because standard sanitation practices of food handlers help prevent the spread of the virus. Individuals who live in a household with an infected person or who participate in risk behaviors previously described are at greater risk for hepatitis A infection.

CDC, you miss the point, granted food service workers are not more at risk of getting hepatitis A because of their occupation, but they are a risk for spreading it to customers. Also, food service are low paid jobs that certainly have the likelihood of being filled by people who are immigrants, where hepatitis A might be endemic, or people who have been recently homeless.

What should I do if I have eaten at a restaurant that has reportedly had a hepatitis A-infected food handler?

If you have any questions about potential exposure to hepatitis A, call your health professional or your local or state health department who can help you to learn if you were recently exposed to hepatitis A virus at that restaurant, have not been vaccinated against hepatitis A, and might benefit from either hepatitis A vaccine or an injection of immune globulin. However, the vaccine or immune globulin are only effective if given within the first 2 weeks after exposure. A health professional can decide what is best based on your age and overall health.

The problem here is that the Famous Anthony’s employee worked while infectious during the last half of August.  There was no announcement that there had been a risk of exposure until the end of September – two weeks too late for vaccine or immune globulin to be effective.

I will also spare you the numerous times I pleaded with the CDC, local and state health officials, and restaurants to require hepatitis A vaccinations for food handlers.  Let’s be clear, had the food handler who exposed patrons of three Famous Anthony’s restaurants been vaccinated against hepatitis A, we would not be having this discussion, and I would not be representing over two dozen people hospitalized and two that lost loved ones.  I would also not be suing Famous Anthony’s which will likely cost millions of dollars and/or drive them into bankruptcy.

My guess is that the cost of a hepatitis A vaccine looks very appetizing at this point?

Thank you ProPublica for the searing story about industry’s and government’s failures: “America’s Food Safety System Failed to Stop a Salmonella Epidemic. It’s Still Making People Sick”

I filed the petition more than a year ago, on Jan. 19, 2020, with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), on behalf of Rick Schiller, Steven Romes, the Porter family, Food & Water Watch, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Reports.

The petition asks FSIS to declare the following Salmonella “outbreak serotypes” as per se contaminants in meat and poultry products:

Salmonella Agona, Anatum, Berta, Blockely, Braenderup, Derby, Dublin, Enteritidis, Hadar, Heidelberg, I 4,[5],12:i:-, Infantis, Javiana, Litchfield, Mbandaka, Mississippi, Montevideo, Muenchen, Newport, Oranienburg, Panama, Poona, Reading, Saintpaul, Sandiego, Schwarzengrund, Senftenberg, Stanley, Thompson, Typhi, and Typhimurium.

Reducing salmonellosis from meat and poultry “demands bold action” beyond that yet taken by FSIS. Salmonella is a leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, causing 1.35 million illnesses, 26,500 hospitalizations, 130 outbreaks, and 420 deaths each year.

Here is the original petition – FSIS-2020-0007-0001_attachment_1

Ya gotta love science.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) shows:

Sushi

163 Isolates (150 clinical, 13 “environmental swab from seafood manufacturer”)

Distance between selected isolates: minimum = 0 SNPs, maximum = 5 SNPs, average = 1 SNPs

Target creation date range: 2019-01-28 to 2021-10-15

The sushi outbreak cluster is within a much larger cluster of 4,457 isolates

Group  PDG000000002.2320

Cluster  PDS000032705.704

Onions

798 isolates (797 clinical, 1 “mixed produce”)

Group PDG000000002.2320

Cluster  PDS000094913.33

Distance between selected isolates: minimum = 0 SNPs, maximum = 8 SNPs, average = 1 SNPs

Target creation date range: 2021-08-20 to 2021-10-26

49 cases and 1 secondary case of Hepatitis-A have been connected to an outbreak that started with the diagnosis of a restaurant employee.  There has been at least 31 hospitalized and 1 reported death.  Unfortunately, another death will be reported shortly.  We are now representing 23 Roanoke residents.

But according to the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts director, Dr. Cynthia Morrow, the incubation window ended back on October 15, and there have not been any new cases since that date.

There is no ongoing concern about eating at Famous Anthony’s restaurant locations, according to Dr. Cynthia Morrow with the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts, saying the exposure period has passed.

The Virginia Department of Health alerted the community last week to watch for symptoms after the diagnosis. Morrow says the restaurant chain has cooperated with health investigators.

The employee worked at three locations, at 4913 Grandin Road, 6499 Williamson Road and Crystal Spring Avenue.

Anyone who is not vaccinated against hepatitis A and was at any of those locations between August 10 and 27 could have been exposed and should watch for the following symptoms, according to VDH:

· jaundice: yellowing of the skin or the eyes,
· fever,
· fatigue,
· loss of appetite,
· nausea,
· vomiting,
· abdominal pain,
· dark urine, or
· light-colored stools.

McKinley Strother’s report from WSLS story today was stunning:

It was an uneventful breakfast trip that changed a Roanoke County family forever. James Hamlin and his wife of 55 years ate one of their favorite local breakfast spots: Famous Anthony’s.

“She has a hard time cooking now and my dad liked to treat her,” said daughter Dana Heston. “It was the one thing they would go do together.”

No one would have imagined it would become one of his last meals.

“He said that he hadn’t been eating much, so he wasn’t feeling well,” explained Heston.

Both Hamlin and his wife fell ill, later testing positive for hepatitis A.

Heston described her father’s symptoms as “nausea, fatigue, and loss of appetite.” She says no one knew he was sick at first because he wasn’t one to complain.

She knew it was serious when he suggested going to the emergency room. At the time, it was assumed he likely caught a cold from his grandchildren, whom he often drove to their various activities and had recently been sick.

After a one-night stay in the ER at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Hamlin was sent home. The doctors advised him to see his primary care physician, Heston says. However, Hamlin’s doctor wasn’t available for another week. Hamlin and his family knew he needed medical attention sooner.

A few days later he returned to the emergency room.

“I was working and my mom called and she’s like, ‘Dana, we have to take dad in,’” said Heston.

After about 10 days in the hospital, the 75-year-old husband, father, runner, lover of his grandchildren and his country as a veteran died Oct. 8 from hepatitis A complications.

The Roanoke City & Alleghany Health District and Heston, Hamlin’s daughter, linked his death to the hepatitis A outbreak at three Famous Anthony’s locations on Grandin Road, Williamson Road, and Crystal Spring Avenue. An employee who worked at the three locations was diagnosed with the virus, according to the health district.

As of Tuesday, the health department says 49 cases have been associated with this outbreak; 31 people have been hospitalized and one has died.

“None of my family wants to eat out again,” stated Heston. “Everybody is scared to go anywhere because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Heston says her final conversation with her dad was about getting his car inspected. Busy with work, she was unable to visit that evening. The next morning he could no longer speak.

Despite his age, Heston says her father was healthy.

“He was a 75-year-old man, but he was at the gym at least three times a week,” said Heston. He would lift weights and was a marathoner. He had no serious medical conditions.

Heston says her mom continues to recover but is on the mend, saying “She’s finally feeling better. Last week I was scared we were going to lose her too. She was very sick.”

“COVID is not the only dangerous thing out there,” said Heston. “We all have a responsibility to take care of each other, especially in foodservice.”

The family has hired attorney Bill Marler, who represents several families affected by the outbreak. A Franklin County woman is suing the Roanoke restaurant chain, claiming she’s a part of its recent hepatitis A outbreak.

Heston encourages simple practices like washing your hands and sanitizing workstations and getting vaccinated.

The Roanoke Times Alison Graham wrote an earlier story:

Roanoke County residents James Hamlin and his wife Victoria ate breakfast together at Famous Anthony’s a couple of times every month. After 55 years of marriage, they enjoyed spending time together at their favorite breakfast place.

But after their most recent visit in August, they both fell ill.

James Hamlin felt nauseous and tired, but he wasn’t one to complain about being sick. He assumed he caught a cold from one of his grandchildren, whom he often drove to sports practices and music recitals.

Soon enough, he asked his family to take him to the emergency room at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. He was sent home, but his family took him back a few days later when he started to feel worse. After about 10 days in the hospital, the 75-year-old died Oct. 8 from hepatitis A complications.

His daughter, Dana Heston, said the Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts have linked Hamlin’s death to a hepatitis A outbreak at three Famous Anthony’s locations — on Grandin Road, Crystal Spring Avenue and Williamson Road. An employee who worked at all three locations was diagnosed with the virus.

As of Wednesday, the health department identified 44 cases with at least 26 hospitalizations and one death.

Heston, of Cave Spring, said her father was a strong and healthy man. He worked out three times per week — lifting weights, riding a stationary bike and walking. He did not have any serious medical conditions.

“The hepatitis A caused his death,” she said. “He had no idea it was something this serious. By the time we knew it was really serious, he was asking to go to the emergency room.”

Heston visited him in the hospital between work and caring for her children. At first, he seemed tired but was still doing well. He told her he needed to get his car’s state inspection renewed and she told him not to worry about it. The next morning, he was too weak to talk.

“That was the last conversation we had,” she said. “He got sick very suddenly. The doctors kept saying there was nothing else they could do and it was really hard to watch him suffer.”

Hamlin and his wife moved to the Roanoke area in 2017 to help Heston and be close to her seven children. The Hamlins’ son, Jim Hamlin, and his daughter Samantha live in Minnesota.

Heston said her father attended all of her children’s sports games, practices and school events, just like he did when she and her brother were kids.

Jim Hamlin said his father stood at an empty track every Saturday in the summer as Jim practiced for his races in high school. His father recorded every split and critiqued his son’s form. Eventually, Jim Hamlin ran track at California State University, Chico, and said he wouldn’t have accomplished it without his dad.

Heston experienced something similar when she went back to college in her 30s. She remembers sitting with her father as they struggled through her physics class together. She juggled school, work and her family, and he helped her manage it all.

“I ended up passing that class and I don’t think I could have done it without his help,” she said. “He was a really giving person. You could always count on him to be there.”

Heston said her mother, 78, still feels ill, but they monitor her closely to make sure her condition isn’t worsening. The suddenness of her dad’s illness makes the situation all the more scary and devastating.

The family has hired Seattle attorney Bill Marler, who is now representing multiple families affected by the outbreak. A Franklin County woman has filed a lawsuit against the restaurant chain for the severe illness she suffered from hepatitis A exposure, according to the lawsuit.

The loss of their father will leave a huge hole in the family, Jim Hamlin said. Their dad sacrificed for all of his kids and grandkids and helped support everyone. The Heston family recently welcomed James Hamlin’s great-granddaughter, whom he will never meet.

“What happened to my dad was preventable,” Jim Hamlin said. “I understand the person wasn’t aware that they were sick, but my dad is still gone. I would just ask that people not make assumptions. Wash your hands, wear your gloves because you just never know what could happen.”

Here are guides – especially for parents – of the four food borne pathogens I see most frequently.

E. coli

E. coli are bacteria that can cause serious, sometimes fatal, infections in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that E. coli causes 2,000 hospitalizations in the United States each year.Ten percent of E. coli victims develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause kidney failure, damage to the central nervous system, and ultimately death.

Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/ecoliBrochure.pdf

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is one of five human hepatitis viruses (hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E) that primarily infect the liver and cause illness. It is a communicable (or contagious) disease that spreads from person-to-person through fecal-oral contact, often from an infected food handler contaminating food.

Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/hepatitisBrochure.pdf

Listeria

Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) is a foodborne disease-causing bacteria; the disease caused by the ingestion of Listeria bacteria is called listeriosis. Listeria can invade the body through a normal and intact gastrointestinal track. Once in the body, Listeria can travel through the blood stream; it invades and grows best in the central nervous system among immune compromised persons, causing meningitis and/or encephalitis (brain infection). In pregnant women, the fetus can become infected with Listeria, leading to spontaneous abortion, stillbirths, or sepsis (blood infection) in infancy.

Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/ListeriaFINALbrochure.pdf

Salmonella

Salmonella is one of the most common intestinal infections in the United States. Salmonellosis (the disease caused by Salmonella) is the second most common foodborne illness. Salmonella infection occurs when the bacteria are ingested, typically from food derived from infected food-animals, but it can also occur by ingesting the feces of an infected animal or person. Food sources include raw or undercooked eggs/egg products, raw milk or raw milk products, contaminated water, meat and meat products, and poultry. Raw fruits and vegetables contaminated during slicing have been implicated in several Salmonella outbreaks.

Click to enlarge: https://marlerclark.com/pdfs/salmonella_brochure.pdf

The last few weeks have sounded remarkably familiar to Spring 2020 when we faced a nationwide (and Canada) Salmonella outbreak linked to California grown onions.  We are now facing a similar outbreak – smaller at this point (over 650 vs over 1,600 sickened) – but it will be interesting to see if the root cause of the outbreak tracks as the below 2020 cause.

Here is what the FDA said in May 2020:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a report on its investigation of the Salmonella Newport outbreak that caused more than 1,600 reported illnesses in the U.S. and Canada between June and October 2020. The FDA worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state partners, and Canadian officials (Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency) to investigate the outbreak, which was linked through epidemiology and traceback to whole red onions supplied by Thomson International Inc., headquartered in Bakersfield (Southern San Joaquin Valley) with additional operations in Holtville (Imperial Valley), California. The outbreak is the largest Salmonella foodborne illness outbreak in over a decade. The report released today includes an overview of the traceback investigation, subsequent on-site interviews, visual observations of the growing fields, and environmental sampling, and various factors that potentially contributed to the contamination of red onions with Salmonella.

Although a conclusive root cause could not be identified, several potential contributing factors to the 2020 Salmonella outbreak linked to red onions were identified. These include:

  • potentially contaminated sources of irrigation water;
  • sheep grazing on adjacent land;
  • signs of animal intrusion, including scat (fecal droppings), and large flocks of birds that may spread contamination; and
  • food contact surfaces that had not been inspected, maintained, or cleaned as frequently as necessary to protect against the contamination of produce.

In sampling conducted in Holtville, CA, the FDA found Salmonella Newport in 10 water (irrigation, seepage, and drainage) and one sediment subsamples. However, the whole genome sequencing of these samples did not match the outbreak strain.

Although a conclusive root cause could not be identified, several potential contributing factors to the 2020 red onion outbreak were identified, including a leading hypothesis that contaminated irrigation water used in a growing field in Holtville, CA may have led to contamination of the onions.

In light of this report, the FDA encourages all farms to:

  • assess growing operations to ensure implementation of appropriate science and risk-based preventive measures, including applicable provisions of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule and good agricultural practices;
  • implement industry-led root-cause analyses to determine how the contamination likely occurred when pathogens are identified through pre-harvest or post-harvest testing of produce, or microbiological surveys;
  • be aware of and consider the risks that may be posed by adjacent and nearby land uses, especially as it relates to the presence of livestock and the interface between farmland, rangeland, irrigation water, and other agricultural areas;
  • consider additional tools such as pre-harvest and/or post-harvest sampling and testing of products to help inform the risk assessment and clarify the need for specific prevention measures; and
  • improve traceability by increasing digitization, interoperability and standardization of traceability records; and
  • follow good agricultural practices to maintain and protect the quality of water sources.

Although the present outbreak appears to be onions grown in Mexico provided nationwide and to Canada though various suppliers in the United States, it will me interesting of we are just seeing history repeat itself.

It also will be interesting if the slow roll out of the FDA “water rule” had an impact in both of the outbreaks?

Here are the compliance dates:

“Larger farms are now required to comply with the agricultural water requirements by January 26, 2022, while small farms have until January 26, 2023 and very small farms until January 26, 2024.  This rule does not change the compliance dates for sprout operations.”

Food Safety News and the Roanoke Times report that the patient count in a hepatitis A outbreak linked to Virginia restaurants continues to grow, with 44 people now confirmed as infected. One of the patients has required a liver transplant and one has died.

The cousin of the transplant patient reports the operation took place this past weekend. The outbreak patient’s husband and daughter were also infected, according to the cousin.

The patient who died, James Hamlin, and his wife Victoria frequently ate at one of the implicated Famous Anthony’s restaurants, according to the Roanoke Times. James died on Oct. 8 at age 75. “His daughter, Dana Heston of Cave Spring, said Hamlin was a strong and healthy man. He worked out three times per week — lifting weights, riding a stationary bike and walking. He did not have any serious medical conditions,” according to the Times. Victoria Hamlin was also infected, but is recovering.

More than half of the patients — 26 as of Oct. 15 — have been so sick that they had to be admitted to hospitals. That is a higher rate of hospitalization than is usually seen in hepatitis A outbreaks.

The outbreak is associated with three Famous Anthony’s restaurant locations in the Roanoke, VA, area. An employee who worked at all three locations is believed to be the source of the infections. No other details about the employee, including health status, have been released.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) shows:

Salmonella – 653 isolates – 652 clinical (people) and 1 mixed produce

Group: PDG000000002.2315

Cluster: PDS000094913.28

Distance between selected isolates: minimum = 0 SNPs, maximum = 9 SNPs, average = 1 SNPs

Target creation date range: 2021-08-20 to 2021-10-15

As of a few moments ago, the CDC reports:

As of October 14, 2021, 592 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg have been reported from 36 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from May 31, 2021, to September 29, 2021. Sick people range in age from less than 1 year to 97 years, with a median age of 36, and 57% are female. Of 363 people with information available, 116 (32%) have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported.

Members of the Coalition for Poultry Safety Reform welcome the announcement today by the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) launching a new effort to reduce Salmonella illnesses associated with poultry products.

The Coalition for Poultry Safety Reform is a newly-formed group composed of individuals and organizations, listed below, representing a broad array of interests and expertise related to poultry safety, including organizations that represent consumers and victims of foodborne illness, members of the poultry industry, leading food safety scientists, and current and former state and federal officials. Our multistakeholder coalition aims to serve as a resource for ideas and insights on effective, practicable, and science-based approaches to poultry safety reform that will benefit the public by reducing foodborne illnesses while ensuring continued consumer access to safe, affordable food.

We applaud Secretary Tom Vilsack and Deputy Under Secretary Sandra Eskin for demonstrating strong leadership and commitment to meaningful poultry safety reform aimed at reducing illnesses from Salmonella.

Decreasing Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination of poultry products is a top priority of the coalition. The rates of illness in the United States due to Salmonella and Campylobacter have remained persistently high for the last 20 years, despite efforts by federal regulators aimed at reducing bacterial contamination in poultry products. The announcement today by USDA FSIS addresses Salmonella, but does not address Campylobacter.

In the announcement, USDA Secretary Vilsack committed to “taking action to help prevent Salmonella contamination throughout the poultry supply chain and production system to protect public health.” The agency laid out a process for Salmonella reform that will begin with stakeholder feedback on specific strategies, including pilots to gather data and information.

“Reducing Salmonella infections attributable to poultry is one of the Department’s top priorities,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary Eskin, who is leading the initiative.

Throughout this reform process, the coalition will be advocating for comprehensive reform that fully upgrades the current regulatory system to protect public health. Specifically, members of the coalition believe that:

  1.  The current system for regulating poultry safety is broken. While current prevalence-based pathogen reduction performance standards are leading to reduced Salmonella levels in products, the performance standard method is not producing the desired public health outcomes.
  2. To achieve better results, USDA must transform and strengthen its standards. The current performance standards system should be replaced with standards that are objective, risk-based, achievable, enforceable, and flexible enough to adapt to emerging evidence and the latest science. Modernized standards should not stifle innovation. Instead, they should invite innovation and technological development.
  3. Food safety should extend from farm to fork. While the USDA FSIS cannot directly regulate food safety practices on the farm, a modernized Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) framework should address risk reduction across the full production process from raw material to finished packaging, including defining the responsibility of poultry processors to consider preharvest practices and interventions in their HACCP plans. The plans should also verify that suppliers of live birds have implemented scientifically appropriate risk-reduction measures in accordance with modern best practices.
  4. USDA must address both Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry. Salmonella and Campylobacter should be addressed in parallel but separate proceedings, as larger knowledge gaps exist for Campylobacter than Salmonella and different timelines and risk mitigation approaches may be necessary. This includes reviewing and reinvigorating programs around Salmonella that exist within the National Poultry Improvement Plan.
  5. Regulatory reform should be paired with investment in research. While the science has advanced sufficiently to support regulatory improvements today, ongoing research is also needed to support continued progress towards reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter, including epidemiologic data and analysis to improve attribution of illness to specific commodities and products.

The members of the Coalition for Poultry Safety Reform are:

Consumer Representatives

Center for Science in the Public Interest

  • James Kincheloe, Food Safety Campaign Manager
  • Peter Lurie, President and Executive Director and former Associate Commissioner, FDA
  • Sarah Sorscher, Deputy Director of Regulatory Affairs

Consumer Federation of America

  • Thomas Gremillion, Director of Food Policy

Consumer Reports

  • Brian Ronholm, Director of Food Policy and former USDA Deputy Under Secretary, Food Safety

Environmental Working Group

  • Scott Faber, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs

Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP)

  • Mitzi Baum, Chief Executive Officer
  • Amanda Craten, Board Member and Mother of Salmonella Illness Survivor
  • Vanessa Coffman, Director of the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness
  • Shrinidhi Joshi, Dave Theno Food Safety Fellow

Affected Consumer Members of STOP

  • David Clubb, Salmonella Illness Survivor
  • Mary Graba, Campylobacter Illness Survivor
  • Diana Goodpasture, Salmonella Illness Survivor
  • Melissa and Ruby Lee, Mother and Salmonella Illness Survivor

Food Safety Scientists

  • Craig W. Hedberg, University of Minnesota
  • Glenn Morris, Jr., University of Florida
  • Martin Wiedmann, Cornell University

Industry Members

Butterball LLC 

  • Alice Johnson, Senior Vice President, Food Safety

Perdue Farms 

  • Bruce Stewart-Brown, Senior Vice President, Technical Services and Innovation

Tyson Foods

  • Scott Brooks, Senior Vice President, Food Safety & Quality Assurance

Wayne Farms LLC

  • Bryan Miller, Vice President, Quality Assurance and Food Safety
  • Michael Robach, Chief Executive Officer, The Robach Group LLC

Current and Former State and Federal Officials

Association of Food and Drug Officials

  • Steven Mandernach, Executive Director
  • Jerold R. Mande, former USDA Deputy Under Secretary, Food Safety
  • Michael Taylor, former USDA FSIS Administrator and Acting Under Secretary, Food Safety