Criminal Prosecution in Food Contamination Cases Practically Nil
I had the opportunity to discuss the lack of criminal prosecutions in food contamination cases on Minnesota Public Radio. Below is the MPR audio of the program, which focuses on the case of dairy farmer Michael Hartmann, whose raw milk and other dairy products were linked to outbreaks of E. coli and Campylobacter in Minnesota in 2010.
Below is an excerpt from the radio program:
“The level of prosecution in food-borne illness cases is practically nil,” said Fred Pritzker, a Minneapolis attorney who specializes in seeking damages for food contamination victims.
“In all the years that I’ve been doing this I have yet to see a manufacturer, producer, actually prosecuted and convicted for any outbreaks,” he said.
The most recent example is the salmonella-contaminated food products sold two years ago by the Peanut Corporation of America, Pritzker said. Nine deaths and hundreds of illnesses are attributed to its tainted peanut butter and other items.
Pritzker represented the families of three Minnesota residents killed in the outbreak. He said even though emails show company officials knew the peanut butter could be contaminated, a two-year federal criminal probe has failed to indict anyone.
“If that case doesn’t get prosecuted then really I think it’s sending the signal that they’re not going to do much of anything unless somebody basically says ‘I want to harm someone’,” he said.
Pritzker said prosecutors are reluctant to tackle cases unless they can win big sentences. In some cases food law only provides misdemeanor penalties.
A proposed law in Congress would change that. Co-sponsored by Minnesota Senators Klobuchar and Franken, it would impose felony sentences on anyone who knowingly contaminates the food supply.
Pritzker Olsen Files Suit for Bison E. coli Victim
Our law office has issued a press release about a Colorado buffalo E. coli lawsuit we filed this week in Jefferson County District Court with local counsel in Denver, Reilly Pozner LLC. This is the first lawsuit filed in connection with an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that the USDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have associated with bison products recalled by Rocky Mountain Natural Meats of Henderson, Colo.
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
Young HUS Victim From Ohio Escaped Death
A young woman from Ashtabula, Ohio, has retained me to represent her in connection with a nearly fatal E. coli O157:H7 infection she suffered in connection with an outbreak and beef recall late last year by National Steak and Poultry Co. of Owasso, Oklahoma.
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.
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).
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
