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

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).

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.

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 7, 2010—Applebee’s and Olive Garden have been added to the list of restaurants affected by a Dec. 24 recall of nearly 250,000 pounds of steaks, medallions and other beef products that may have been tainted with  E. coli O157:H7, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Previously the only restaurants named in connection with this recall were Moe’s Southwest Grill, Carino’s Italian and 54th Street Grill & Bar owned by KRM Inc.

The news comes two weeks after the beef supplier, National Steak and Poultry, and federal officials announced the recall. Since then, 21 cases of E. coli in 16 states have been linked to this recall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nine of these cases required hospitalization and at least one patient contracted life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). States with confirmed cases include: California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.

Applebee’s operates about 2,000 locations nationwide; Olive Garden has 695.

 “There are thousands of restaurants in question—how many more people will get sick before we see a full and detailed list of restaurants where this beef was distributed?” said food safety attorney Fred Pritzker. “Two weeks is simply too long to wait for this news.”

“As a customer of NSP (National Steak and Poultry) we took immediate action when learning of this recall,” Applebee’s spokeswoman Nancy Mays told Nation’s Restaurant News. Furthermore, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) “does not agree that publicly identifying food service establishments would provide consumers greater protection from the risks associated with tainted meat or poultry.”

It is Pritzker’s opinion that these policies and procedures aren’t enough. “No matter how many future illnesses might be prevented by removing tainted meat from restaurant menus after cases have been reported, that does nothing for the people who actually got sick,” he said. “Restaurant chains and food safety officials need to understand that diners have a right to know where and how they became sick.”

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 our web site 

That excellent advice came in 2005 when Minnesota public health investigators wrote about 12 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 from non-intact, blade-tenderized frozen steaks that had been sold by door-to-door vendors in Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, North Dakota and Kansas. Three of the victims were hospitalized, including a 52-year-old patient who was treated for 25 days after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and was discharged with “residual neurological deficits.”

Four years later and our national food safety law firm, Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, is investigating a possible steak E. coli outbreak associated with at least one large United States restaurant chain. Nothing official has come out as of yet, but we have been contacted by E. coli O157:H7 survivors who may have been infected by meat injected by tenderizing ingredients. The outbreak is believed to have reached multiple states.

These injections and other mechanical tenderizing techniques may enhance flavor but can be dangerous to consumers when brine is contaminated and when meat isn’t cooked well. Even some restaurant cooks may mistakenly believe that all steaks can be safely served rare in the middle. That’s true with intact, untouched steaks because any bacteria is on the surface and is easily killed.

But when steaks are tenderized with brine or mechanical blading, the processes can drive pathogens into the center of the meat, like hamburger. In those cases, an instant-read themometer should be used to ensure proper cooking.

Here’s what the 2005 report said: ” These processing methods create new challenges for prevention of O157 infections. Food regulatory officials should re-evaluate safety issues presented by nonintact steak products, such as microbiologic hazards of processing methods, possible labeling to distinguish intact from non-intact steaks and education of the public and commercial food estabshments on the increased risk associated with undercooked nonintact steaks.”

A recent collaboration involving the Institute of Food Technologists and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is intended to improve product tracing in food production and distribution. That study, released in October 2009 and entitled Traceability (Product Tracing) in Food Systems, identified key data elements, use of electronic forms and standardized formats as a means to identify and track food products implicated in E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks and other foodborne illness outbreaks.

Traceability is an essential component of food safety regulation. Simply put, it is essential that every food’s supply chain (from farm to retail/foodservice outlet) be known, recorded and easily accessed. This allows for rapid detection of the source of foodborne illness outbreaks, removal of adulterated products from the marketplace, consumer warnings and identification of wrongdoers in product liability claims brought on behalf of foodborne illness survivors.

Unfortunately, the system of traceability in this country is fragmented and incomplete. For example, there is no standardized system for the identification and recording of key data elements (e.g. physical location at which the product was handled, lot numbers, amount of product manufactured or shipped, recipients of shipped products, etc.). In addition, there are no approved standardized formats and no record-keeping requirements for Critical Tracking Events (“CTEs” – instances in which a product is moved between premises, is transformed or is otherwise determined to be a point at which data capture is necessary to trace the product).

These deficiencies are well known and long-standing. They endanger consumers and make it difficult to hold wrongdoers accountable for the harms and losses they cause. As food safety lawyers involved in virtually every major outbreak of foodborne illness, we at Pritzker Olsen Attorneys believe the common sense recommendations in this report should be implemented without further delay.