MINNEAPOLIS, Feb 28, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Restaurants, commercial kitchens and other food service providers should cease serving raw sprouts of any kind unless an explicit food safety warning is provided on menus, national E. coli lawyer Fred Pritzker announced.

Pritzker, who represents victims of foodborne illness in practically every major U.S. outbreak, said that more than a decade of concentrated effort by regulators and sprout suppliers has failed to make raw sprouts safe to eat. The latest of far too many outbreaks has sickened customers of the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s in Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and Arkansas. Officials suspect pathogenic contamination in seeds sold to growers — a common source of poisoning in sprouts. Late last week, Michigan public health officials issued a statewide alert for citizens to avoid eating raw clover sprouts due to an outbreak of E. coli O26 associated with seven illnesses, including at least two victims who are confirmed to be part of the food poisoning at Jimmy John’s.

“These people suffered severe pain due to a collapse of food safety measures,” said Pritzker, one of four national figures chosen to debate the dangers of raw milk earlier this month at Harvard University. “If consumers are going to be put in harm’s way, justice demands they be forewarned.”

Many restaurants have already removed raw sprouts from their offerings. For those who persist in selling them in ready-to-eat food, an explicit public warning should be mandatory, Pritzker said. The warning should alert consumers to the risk of life-threatening virulent bacteria, he said.

Toxic E. coli is the latest pathogen to contaminate sprouts in a multi-state outbreak, but Salmonella and Listeria also have a history of harboring in sprouts sold into the food supply. A sprout E. coli outbreak centered in Germany last year killed more than 50 people and sent more than 840 to the hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).

In just the past three years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has publicly tracked six separate sprout outbreaks that have sickened more than 4,500 people. And by the government’s own admission, FDA guidelines for seed suppliers and sprout growers would not have detected the strain of toxic E. coli in the Jimmy John’s outbreak.

“The only way to make sprouts safe is to cook them,” Pritzker said. “Serving them raw to an unsuspecting public is irresponsible and should be banned.”

E. coli outbreak victims and their families can contact food safety attorney Fred Pritzker by calling his law firm at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free). PritzkerOlsen, P.A. is a nationally recognized food safety law firm that has collected millions for E. coli food poisoning victims. The firm represents E. coli victims throughout the United States and has offices at Plaza Seven, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.

The national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a victim of the multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to Turkish pine nuts sold at grocery stores operated by Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., of Rochester, N.Y., and distributed by Sunrise Commodities, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The lawsuit against Wegmans and Sunrise Commodities was filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Monroe County by PritzkerOlsen with local counsel.

In September 2011, the plaintiff purchased pine nuts at Wegmans and made basil pesto with them. After eating the pesto, she began to suffer weakness, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. Her condition worsened, and she was later admitted to the hospital.

The plaintiff was one of at least 42 people in five states who contracted a Salmonella infection after eating the pine nuts, according to the CDC. Most of the victims, 27 of them, are from New York. There are also eight victims from Pennsylvania, four from Virginia, two from New Jersey and one from Maryland.

“This outbreak was caused by a breakdown in the food safety systems designed to protect consumers” said food safety attorney Fred Pritzker.  “After-the-fact testing conclusively proved that the Turkish pine nuts were adulterated with Salmonella Enteritidis. Had these companies properly tested the product in the first place, this outbreak would not have occurred.”

Public health investigators used DNA “fingerprints” of the Salmonella strain to identify cases of illness that were part of this outbreak.  After laboratory testing linked the illnesses to pine nuts sold in bulk bins at Wegmans grocery stores, the company issued a recall of 5,000 pounds of Turkish pine nuts sold at 78 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland between July 1 and October 18, 2011.

Further tests by the FDA confirmed that Salmonella matching the outbreak strain was present on samples of Turkish pine nuts taken from a warehouse used by Sunrise Commodities. The recall was then expanded to include pine nuts that had been distributed to food vendors in Florida, New Jersey, New York and Canada.

Attorneys Fred Pritzker and Ryan Osterholm represent the plaintiff in this case. They can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or at http://www.salmonellaclaimcenter.com or  www.pritzkerlaw.com. PritzkerOlsen, P.A. has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Contact
Pritzker Olsen, P.A.
Fred Pritzker
Phone: 612-338-0202
fhp@pritzkerlaw.com

MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–One month after Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, announced its initial recall of shell eggs, law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is continuing to get contacts from people sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis.

The food safety law firm represents Salmonella egg outbreak victims whose illnesses date as far back as June. Founder and president Fred Pritzker, who is lead attorney for the firm’s egg recall cases, already has filed an egg lawsuit in Minnesota and is working on additional egg lawsuits for other clients from across the country. The Minnesota case stemmed from a cluster of illnesses among patrons of the same restaurant, Mi Rancho in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Health traced it back to contaminated eggs from Hillandale Farms, also of Iowa.

Across the country, more than 1,500 individuals have suffered Salmonella Enteritidis infections that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has attributed to contaminated shell eggs from Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. According to CDC, the outbreak started in May, peaked in July and has continued into September.

Pritzker said the heavy volume of contacts from victims has prompted his firm to conduct its own investigation and he is hoping for court permission to inspect the egg farms as soon as possible. FDA inspection reports found unsanitary conditions and multiple violations of food safety laws.

“We’re getting complaints like crazy,’’ Pritzker said. “People are scared and angry because this outbreak should not have happened.’’

A person infected with Salmonella Enteritidis usually has fever, painful cramps and diarrhea beginning 12 to 72 hours after consuming contaminated food. The illness lasts 4 to 7 days. Children under age 5, older adults and others who have impaired immune systems may face more serious illness. In these patients, the infection may spread to the blood stream and produce arterial infections such as endocarditis and reactive arthritis, or Reiter’s syndrome.

PritzkerOlsen, P.A., represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). More information on the egg recall can be found on the firm’s blog, foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com. The firm’s offices are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Here’s a copy of the press release published today by BusinessWire:

MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PritzkerOlsen, P.A., the national food safety law firm, has filed suit on behalf of a woman from Mantorville, Minnesota, who is a confirmed victim of the multi-state Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak linked to shell eggs.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Beltrami County, the woman ate at Mi Rancho restaurant in Bemidji, Minnesota, on May 7, 2010, and started getting ill a short time later. The Minnesota Department of Health determined that she and at least six other patrons of the restaurant were sickened by the same identical strain of Salmonella Enteritidis.

Shell eggs were identified as the likely source of the Mi Rancho outbreak and were traced back by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to Hillandale Farms of New Hampton, Iowa. Eggs from Hillandale Farms were then included in an expanded egg recall of more than half a billion eggs that started with Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa.

Restaurant clusters like the one in Bemidji aided state and federal health investigators in framing the egg outbreak. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1,470 reported illnesses are likely to be associated with this outbreak, making it the largest Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak reported since CDC started outbreak surveillance in the early 1970s.

“Our client’s severe illness could have been prevented at several levels, but those with the ability to protect her from Salmonella poisoning failed to do so,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker, lead attorney for the firm’s egg recall cases. “Our client and the hundreds of others sickened in this outbreak deserved better.”

Pritzker Olsen is in contact with other victims and is accepting cases for additional egg lawsuits against Hillandale Farms and Wright County Egg.

PritzkerOlsen, P.A., headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. The firm is involved in virtually every major foodborne illness outbreak and has successfully obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). More information on the egg recall can be found on the firm’s blog, foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com.

Keep in mind that the federal government bans E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef, but no similar prohibition or mandatory testing protocols are in place for bison.

GOLDEN, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A woman from Lakewood, Colorado, who was hospitalized for an infection of E. coli O157:H7 after eating bison meat has filed a lawsuit against Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, Inc. of Henderson, Colorado, the processor of the meat.

The woman is represented by Pritzker Olsen law firm in the lawsuit filed by local counsel on July 8, 2010, in Jefferson County District Court. According to the complaint, the woman purchased the bison product at a King Soopers grocery store in Lakewood, Colorado.

Health officials used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to confirm that the strain of E. coli that infected the woman was genetically indistinguishable from a strain isolated from other people in Colorado. According to the complaint, health officials then concluded that the woman was part of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to Rocky Mountain Natural Meats bison meat that now has six confirmed cases, five in Colorado and one in New York.

“This outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 linked to bison meat is a wake-up call,” said Fred Pritzker, the attorney representing the E. coli victim. “In the past and currently, bison meat has not been subject to the same E. coli O157:H7 testing requirements as ground beef. Many people assume that bison meat is safer than beef, but that reputation needs to be re-examined.”

In response to the outbreak investigation, Rocky Mountain Natural Meats recalled 66,000 pounds of ground buffalo and bison steaks on July 2 that it said may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly bacterium that is banned in ground beef. The recalled meat was sold under the following brands: Great Range, Nature’s Rancher, The Buffalo Guys and Rocky Mountain Natural Meats.

“This outbreak and subsequent recall were preventable,” stated Pritzker. “It is in the best interest of consumers and the bison industry to require E. coli testing for bison products.”

Pritzker Olsen law firm represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE). For more information, please see www.pritzkerlaw.com or foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com. Pritzker Olsen offices are located at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesot

For Immediate Release

MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire) — Food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is preparing to file a lawsuit on behalf of a woman from central Illinois who was hospitalized in the Subway Salmonella Hvittingfoss outbreak.

The 52-year-old resident of Tazewell County is one of at least 97 people who have tested positive for the same strain of Salmonella in an outbreak linked to more than 40 Subway locations in 28 Illinois counties. Pritzker Olsen is in contact with other victims.

Attorney Fred Pritzker said the client ate an oven-roasted chicken sub on May 11 at the Subway on 603 Jackson Street in Morton, Illinois. She was hospitalized for several days after suffering gastroenteritis and cramping with severe vomiting.

“Our client ate a sandwich and ended up in the hospital.  This should never happen in our country,” Pritzker said. “Stringent sanitation requirements should be in place all along the food chain, and federal and state health officials should be given the authority and money needed to enforce the laws.  Large restaurant chains should require suppliers to regularly test for Salmonella and other dangerous pathogens.”

Pritzker Olsen is also representing victims of a shigellosis outbreak associated with the Subway restaurant in Lombard, Illinois.  The firm filed a lawsuit in March of this year on behalf of one of the victims, a resident of DuPage County, Illinois, who battled a severe Shigella infection for two weeks.  The Subway lawsuit alleges that the outbreak was caused by sick food handlers at the restaurant.

Although contaminated food was the source of this current outbreak linked to certain Subway restaurants in Illinois, health officials are concerned that sick food handlers may continue to spread Salmonella Hvittingfoss.  To prevent this, the Illinois Department of Public Health is requiring food handlers in 46 Subway restaurants to have two consecutive test results that are negative for Salmonella Hvittingfoss before being allowed to return to work.

For more information, visit http://www.pritzkerlaw.com or contact Pritzker Olsen law firm at 1-800-377-8900 (Toll Free). Pritzker Olsen offices are located at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.

This outbreak involved blade- or needle-tenderized beef that few people realize carries an E. coli risk similar to hamburger. Our office issued this press release today to keep the issue in the public light:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cleveland, OH – (Business Wire) - Attorney Fred Pritzker has been retained by an 18 year-old woman from Ashtabula, Ohio who suffered E. coli O157:H7 poisoning and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) linked to adulterated beef products recalled by National Steak and Poultry, an Owasso, Oklahoma meat processor. The young woman was hospitalized for weeks and almost died. She was on dialysis for months and now suffers from decreased kidney function and hypertension. She faces a lifetime of medical problems and medical bills that should have been prevented.

National Steak and Poultry recalled 248,000 pounds of beef products on December 24, 2009, following an investigation that found an association between the company’s steaks and an E. coli O157 outbreak in Ohio and other states.

The recalled beef products, so-called “non-intact beef products,” were mechanically tenderized. This usually involves putting rougher cuts of beef through a machine that utilizes a set of needles or blades which pierce the meat and break down connective tissue.

Unfortunately, this process is also known to push E. coli O157:H7 on the surface of the raw meat into its center (so-called “translocation”).  If the meat is then served rare or medium rare, its center is not heated sufficiently to kill off the E. coli O157:H7.

According to Fred Pritzker,  “This is at least the fourth E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with mechanically tenderized beef.”

“Meat companies and restaurants don’t warn consumers about mechanical tenderization and the dangers that go with it,” Pritzker said.  “They don’t want consumers to be able to make informed choices because they’re afraid it will hurt sales.”

According to Pritzker, this outbreak highlights the need for a number of changes including

• Requiring producers to use microbiological decontamination technologies on meat products before mechanical tenderization
• Requiring labeling changes that alert consumers to the existence of and dangers associated with mechanical tenderization
• Creating and mandating public outreach programs alerting consumers to this practice

Attorney Fred Pritzker represents E. coli victims nationwide. He can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE).  His offices are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The failure to test for the most common non-O157 E coli types, including E. coli O145, is one of the big reasons our office is calling for more federal regulation of lettuce and other fresh produce.

Here is how we addressed the issue in a Business Wire press release issued in conjunction with the Freshway Foods lettuce E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 29 people in Michigan, Ohio and New York:

Freshway Foods Lettuce E coli Outbreak Prompts Pritzker Olsen to Call for More Regulation

MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire) — National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is calling for more federal regulation and enforcement authority over leafy green vegetables produced for U.S. consumption.

The call to action is in response to the current outbreak of E. coli O145 in Ohio, Michigan and New York that health investigators have linked to shredded Romaine lettuce processed by Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio. The outbreak, which has sickened at least 19 people, including 12 who were hospitalized, is just the latest in a string of more than 20 outbreaks of disease from contaminated leafy greens since 1997.

Based on Freshway’s recall of Romaine lettuce, potentially contaminated lettuce was distributed to food service outlets, including restaurants and delis, in some two dozen states east of the Mississippi River. The potential for a more sweeping outbreak was great because the produce industry is rife with food safety gaps.

“Leafy greens are chronically contaminated with disease-causing organisms in this country and there are scant protections,” said Attorney Fred Pritzker. “Families deserve a reliable food safety system that ends this threat.”

Pritzker’s firm has represented individuals who have been made gravely ill by E. coli in leafy greens, including victims of the deadly 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak that still stands as the country’s biggest and most costly. An industry-led marketing agreement with the California Department of Food and Agriculture was implemented in 2007 to establish a standard of best practices, but this voluntary framework is not enough.

The FDA and USDA should now develop a formal program devoted exclusively to regulating leafy greens and other fresh produce with mandated controls against pathogens from farm to fork. The protocols should include testing for E. coli O145 and the five other most common types of non-O157 Shiga toxin producing E. coli organisms. Despite acknowledgement of this gap by the CDC, these non-O157 E. coli types are currently ignored by regulation.

The FDA has acknowledged in the past that it has not yet been able to conduct work crucial to keeping E. coli and other pathogens out of fresh produce because it has lacked the resources to do so. It is now time for Congress to include the needed appropriations. Specifically, domestic fresh produce firms and leafy green imports require far greater inspection.

The Pritzker Olsen law firm, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, represents E. coli victims nationwide. The firm has obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Fred Pritzker
Phone: 612-338-0202
Toll Free: 888-377-8900
Email: fhp@pritzkerlaw.com
Website: http://www.pritzkerlaw.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MINNEAPOLIS — April 30, 2010 — National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen has learned that ground beef is not high on the list of foods suspected of causing an outbreak of E. coli O145 in Michigan, Ohio and New York, where approximately 50 university students and other people are believed to be infected.

Health investigators are looking for a cause that likely comes from a shared foodservice supplier or foodservice item at Ohio State University, University of Michigan and Daemen College, said Fred Pritzker, founder and president of the firm.

But regardless of what food ultimately is confirmed as the cause, Pritzker Olsen is calling on USDA to immediately take steps to broaden E. coli protections where beef is slaughtered and processed. Contaminated ground beef is currently the most common source of E. coli infection.

E. coli O157:H7 is the single most prevalent type of E. coli in U.S. food poisoning cases. As such, it was declared an adulterant in ground beef in 1994, making tainted ground beef illegal to sell and requiring industry to test for the pathogen.

But in 16 years since then, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has failed to put adulterant labels on six additional strains of shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC); E. coli O145, 045, 0121, 0103, 026 and O111. In addition, the agency has not acted on a public petition to deem all beef products adulterated if contaminated with E. coli organisms — not just ground beef and cuts intended for ground beef as regulations now state.

Pritzker said the university outbreak of E. coli O145 is a powerful reminder that it’s time for the USDA to take a major step forward in keeping potentially deadly E. coli forms out of the U.S. beef supply.

“Non-O157 STECs are every bit as hazardous as E. coli O157:H7 and they all need to be regulated,” said Pritzker, whose many current food poisoning clients include a survivor of E. coli O111.  “Another public health disaster shouldn’t be required in order for change to take place.”

The CDC estimates that non-0157 STECs cause 36,700 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations and 30 deaths in America each year. These strains can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), kidney failure, and E. coli death, just like the O157 strain.

Pritzker Olsen law firm, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. The firm is involved in virtually every major foodborne illness outbreak and has obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE).

Here is a press release that went out today on the filing made in the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheney County:

For Immediate Release

MINNEAPOLIS (Business Wire) — Pritzker Olsen law firm has filed a lawsuit through its local counsel on behalf of James and Maureen Orchard, a Pittsburgh-area couple sickened last month by Campylobacter after drinking raw milk produced by Pasture Maid Creamery LLC of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

The Pasture Maid Creamery lawsuit was filed today in the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheney County.  It alleges that 67-year-old James Orchard became paralyzed from a Campylobacter infection he suffered from unpasteurized Pasture Maid milk that health investigators later found to be contaminated.

According to the complaint, Mr. Orchard and his wife purchased the milk March 16 from McGinnis Sisters Special Foods store in Mars, Pennsylvania. The retailer is named in the suit along with the creamery and its owner, Adam Dean.

While Mrs. Orchard became seriously sick and sore, her husband began to experience a loss of sensation and movement. As his infection developed into Guillain-Barre syndrome, he became totally paralyzed except for minimal movement of his head and the ability to blink his eyes. He was placed on ventilation equipment and is still unable to breathe on his own in a Pittsburgh area hospital. Mr. Orchard requires around the clock intensive care.

Fred Pritzker, the Orchards’ attorney said, “Raw milk is a dangerous product that should not be sold to the public. Virtually every health department, federal, state and local, recommends against its use. It is particularly dangerous for young children, people with compromised immune systems and the elderly. This case tragically illustrates how unsafe raw milk is.”

According to the complaint, the Pennsylvania Department of Health found Campylobacter bacteria in raw milk samples from Pasture Maid.  On March 25, 2010, the Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Agriculture advised consumers to discard Pasture Maid brand raw milk and recommended that Pasture Maid Creamery stop selling the product. On April 5, 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture suspended Pasture Maid’s permit to sell raw milk for human consumption.

Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized. Pasteurization, a “kill step,” destroys pathogens like Campylobacter and E. coli O157:H7 with high heat.

Pritzker Olsen law firm, headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, represents individuals and families nationwide in cases involving foodborne illness. The firm is involved in virtually every major foodborne illness outbreak and has obtained some of the largest verdicts and settlements in foodborne illness cases. Attorney Fred Pritzker can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE).