Freshway Foods Lettuce E. coli Outbreak Underscores Need for Food Safety Reforms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention freely admits that outbreaks of E. coli O145 go unreported because few clinical laboratories test for the pathogen even though it is every bit as dangerous as its toxic cousin, E. coli O157:H7.
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
Let’s Start Protecting Against Non-O157 E. coli
This press release is going out from our office today. The university E. coli outbreak in Ohio, Michigan and New York is a timely opportunity to return this issue to the spotlight. The current outbreak involves E. coli O145.
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).
Pritzker Olsen Files Campylobacter Lawsuit on Behalf of Raw Milk Consumers
Using local counsel in Pennsylvania, our law firm is representing James and Maureen Orchard in a lawsuit against a dairy in New Castle, Pa., that health officials discovered sold raw milk contaminated with Campylobacter. Mrs. Orchard became seriously sick and sore and Mr. Orchard is paralyzed as a result of his infection. He developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome and is now under intensive hospital care, breathing through a respirator.
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).
Encouraging Consumers to Hold Restaurants Accountable For Food Poisoning
Already this year we’ve seen two serious outbreaks of foodborne illness at restaurants, including a Subway Shigella outbreak in Lombard, Illinois, where we are representing many of the victims. Here’s a press release from our office reminding consumers of the strict liability that restaurants face for the good of public health.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MINNEAPOLIS — April 10, 2010 — National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is reminding consumers that restaurants are liable for any injuries resulting from consumption of the food served to customers.
A pair of recent outbreaks involving E. coli O157:H7 and Shigella have highlighted the issue by making people seriously ill in areas around Honolulu, Hawaii, and Lombard, Illinois. Pritzker Olsen, a leading practitioner of foodborne illness litigation, is monitoring both outbreaks and has filed an Illinois Shigella lawsuit against the Subway restaurant at 1009 E. Roosevelt Road in Lombard.
In the Subway outbreak, health officials have associated improper hygiene by infected food handlers with an outbreak of shigellosis that has sickened at least 78 people, including at least 11 who were hospitalized. Pritzker Olsen is representing many of the victims in the Subway outbreak and continues to accept cases.
In Honolulu, state health department investigators recently closed Peppa’s II Korean BBQ restaurant on South King Street for one day as part of an investigation into an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Four of seven people sickened by the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 reported eating at Peppa’s before they became ill in March. Health investigators then observed improper food handling at the restaurant and closed it for one day for cleaning and training in E. coli prevention.
Anyone who contracts E. coli poisoning at a restaurant is entitled to damages from the restaurant. This is the case even when the specific food source is not determined by health investigators or when the restaurant unknowingly accepts food already contaminated with E. coli and serves it. Restaurants are an important filter in the U.S. food safety system, demanding food from hand-picked suppliers that is wholesome and unadulterated.
Pritzker Olsen represents E. coli HUS, Shigella, Salmonella, Listeria and other food poisoning victims throughout the U.S., including Hawaii.
In a recent case in Moultrie, Georgia, our lawyers filed suit against The Barbecue Pit, Inc. restaurant, Nebraska Beef, Ltd. and H & L Distributors on behalf of a woman who contracted an E. coli infection after eating contaminated beef later recalled by Nebraska Beef.
Our client suffered bloody diarrhea with intense and painful stomach cramping. Shortly after she was hospitalized, she began suffering from TTP-HUS, a complication of an E. coli O157:H7 infection that causes kidney failure and can affect other organs such as the brain and the heart. Our client was hospitalized for two months and almost died several times. Following her hospitalization, she was transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation unit at the hospital for approximately two weeks. She required several more hospitalizations in the following months.
As a result of this incident, our client sustained severe and permanent injuries involving her brain, heart, kidneys and other organs and bodily functions.
Food poisoning of any kind is not to be taken lightly. For gastrointestinal symptoms such as painful cramping, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomitting, see a physician immediately. It most cases, a doctor’s offhand diagnosis that your symptoms are “food related” is not enough for legal purposes. It is critically important that your doctor runs the appropriate stool or blood test to determine the particular type of food poisoning you suffered.
Restaurant outbreaks of foodborne illness are preventable and often stem from lax training in safe food handling and preparation. When restaurant owners are held accountable for making people sick, our food safety system is strengthened for the good of everyone.
For more information, contact Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or 612-338-0202, email Fred at fhp@pritzkerlaw.com or visit our website, www.pritzkerlaw.com. The firm represents food poisoning victims nationwide and has offices at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401.
Wisconsin Should Drop Raw Milk Bill
This press release went out from out office earlier this week. The bill in question has passed a committee vote and could possibly go to a floor vote in the Assembly, but leaders could still stop it:
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) March 31, 2010 — National food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker is calling on the Wisconsin legislature to kill a bill that would allow public sale of unpasteurized milk.
The Wisconsin bill that would allow raw milk sales direct from farms licensed by the state runs counter to what the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been warning for decades: Raw milk is a health hazard that can cause serious illness and wrongful death.
“This legislation would not only allow a dangerous product into the stream of commerce, some proponents want the bill to carve out almost all liability for raw milk producers,” said Pritzker, a leading food poisoning attorney who has represented victims of contaminated raw milk. “This would be virtually unprecedented and dangerous. If supporters think raw milk is so safe, why do they want immunity from lawsuits?”
Even if the bill moves forward without the immunity clause, America’s Dairyland would be setting a shameful example for the rest of the country by passing a law that its own public health officials have labeled as irresponsible, Pritzker said.
With microscopic fecal contamination from cows unchecked by pasteurization, outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to raw milk are inevitable.
Less than a week ago, FDA alerted consumers to a raw milk Campylobacter outbreak in Michigan associated with products from Forest Grove Dairy in Middlebury, Indiana. At least 24 people have been sickened in the outbreak and state epidemiologists from Michigan, Illinois and Indiana have been joined by FDA in their investigation of the outbreak.
The federal agency said in its latest consumer alert that contaminated raw milk was to blame for 1,614 illnesses in the U.S. from 1998 to 2008. Two of the victims died and 187 were hospitalized.
The FDA advisory said harmful bacteria in raw milk is especially dangerous for pregnant women, young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. Besides Campylobacter, raw milk can carry E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella or other potentially lethal pathogens spread by the feces of cows.
“It’s irresponsible for the Wisconsin legislature to give farmers the choice of selling raw milk when science has proven that raw milk is no more nutritious than pasteurized milk,” Pritzker said. “It’s a trap that will inflict an enormous toll on families who are certain to be stricken by illness.”
Mr. Pritzker is a nationally recognized food safety lawyer who has represented victims in practically every major outbreak of food poisoning in the U.S. He has recovered millions for victims of campylobacteriosis and other foodborne diseases.
For more information, contact Fred Pritzker at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or 612-338-0202, email Fred at fhp@pritzkerlaw.com or visit our website, www.pritzkerlaw.com. The firm represents food poisoning victims nationwide and has offices at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, MN.
Pritzker Olsen Representing Victims in Salami Salmonella Outbreak
The following press release from our office was distributed today by PR Web:
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) February 25, 2010 — Pritzker Olsen law firm has been retained to represent victims of a Salmonella Montevideo outbreak that has sickened at least 238 people in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
The firm represents Salmonella victims throughout the United States, and has recently filed a lawsuit in Nevada (Shirley Shultz v. Union International Food Co., 3:09-cv-00259, United States Court, District of Nevada.) The Nevada lawsuit involves a 2009 outbreak of Salmonella Rissen linked to contaminated pepper produced by California-based Union International Food Company.
The Salmonella Montevideo outbreak has been linked to salami (salame) recalled by Daniele International Inc. and associated with black pepper used in some of those products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In response to this outbreak, Daniele recalled some of their salami products on January 23. Since then, the company has expanded the list of recalled salami products three times and the total now exceeds 1.7 million pounds of potentially contaminated salami.
“Manufacturers are responsible for the safety of their products,” says Fred Pritzker, managing attorney for the firm’s Salmonella cases. “That means recalling adulterated products quickly, clearly and honestly. That does not mean issuing several separate recalls and putting consumers at risk.”
Fred Pritzker is founder and president of Pritzker Olsen, P.A., one of the few law firms in the nation practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. Over the years, the firm has collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning. The firm has offices at Plaza VII, 45 7th St. So., Suite 2950, Minneapolis, MN 55402. For more information or to contact Fred, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or visit the firm’s web site or The Food Safety Lawyer, Fred Pritzker’s blog.
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
