Robert Roos, CIDRAP News Editor caught the USDA ones again saying that it is interested in public safety, but when no one is looking changes the rules. Mr. Roos’ article entitled, “USDA modifies E. coli testing rules for Canadian beef,” is frankly shocking. According to the story, the “USDA has modified its program
Canadian food companies escape food poisoning litigation; because of Medicare, lawyer says suits are not lucrative enough to attract lawyers
In an article in Ontario Farmer, Jim Romahn wrote about my recent talk at University of Guelph about foodborne illness litigation:
U.S. lawyer Bill Marler of Seattle, Wash. Was cited as telling an audience at the University of Guelph recently that medicare has spared Canadian food companies from multi-million-dollar lawsuits when their products poison consumers.
Marler was further cited as saying that Canadian lawyers might file class-action lawsuits, but there won’t be much money for the victims.
There have, however, been Canadian food poisonings every bit as spectacular as the U.S. cases. The largest in Canadian history involved lunchmate products from Schneider Corp.; there is an ongoing lawsuit between Schneiders and cheese supplier Parmalat.
Marler talked about the lack of legal action in Canada in response to a question about the recent food poisonings of dozens of people who ate at a cafeteria at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton.
Canadians Confirm a New Case of Mad Cow Disease
Canadian officials said Tuesday that they had found a new case of mad cow disease, a report made more worrisome because the cow was born after feed restrictions intended to prevent the spread of the disease were put in place in 1997.
It was the second infected cow from the western province of Alberta found