ACI’s 7th National Forum on Food-Borne Illness Litigation, in San Francisco Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Hilton San Francisco Financial District, San Francisco, CA

“Each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.”

– 2011 Estimates from the Center for Disease Control and

The instant Order memorializes the Court’s instructions and rulings during the conference.

First, the Court granted Defendant Samuel Lightsey’s Motion to Continue. (Doc. 113.) The Parties shall confer and submit to the Court a joint proposed scheduling order no later than Wednesday, January 15, 2014, suggesting proposed trial dates to begin between July 7, 2014

Food Safety News reports, despite the somewhat commonplace occurrence of illness outbreaks associated with unpasteurized milk, the number of illnesses linked to drinking raw milk is much higher than those counted in outbreak reports, according to an analysis published by the Minnesota Department of Health on Wednesday.

Looking at 10 years of health department data

Yauk’s Specialty Meats, a Windsor, Colo., establishment, is recalling approximately 90,000 pounds of various meat and poultry products that were produced under insanitary conditions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The following products are subject to recall:

  • “Colorado Best Beef” brand various fresh, smoked and shelf-stable meat products.

Deloitte announced today that Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, currently serving as Under Secretary for Food Safety at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), will join Deloitte’s consumer products practice as a food safety senior advisor with Deloitte & Touche LLP. Dr. Hagen will advise Deloitte’s clients on increased regulatory requirements, food and product safety challenges,

“You want to stop the outbreak as quickly as possible to minimize the number of people who get sick,” Bill Keene

Bill passed away today.  Over the past 20 years, Bill solved or helped solve many outbreaks, gaining the respect of his peers across the country and bolstering Oregon state’s stature as a leader in

The 2013 Food Code is now out and the FDA has put on line a Summary comparing the 2009 and 2013 versions.  Happy reading!  From the FDA:

This Summary provides a synopsis of the textual changes from the 2009 FDA Food Code and the Supplement to the 2009 Food Code Chapters and Annexes to the 2013 edition. The primary intent of this record is to capture the nature of the changes rather than to identify every word or editing change. This record should not be relied upon as an absolute comparison that identifies each and every change

General 

  • Numerous editing changes were made throughout the document for internal consistency, to correct some errors in the 2009 Code and for clarification.
  • Section and paragraph numbers listed refer to the 2009 Code and its Supplement unless otherwise noted. The numbering system was removed from Chapter 1 definitions in the 2005 version of this Code. An explanation regarding the rationale can be found in Annex 3, 1-201.10(B).
  • Updated the web links throughout the Code and Annexes.
  • Converted several Tables, charts, and images throughout the Code to meet web accessibility requirements under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). Section 508 mandates that all federal agencies eliminate the barriers in accessing electronic and information technology.

Continue Reading 2013 Food Code is Out – Time for Light Reading