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.
Food Safety Lawyer Fred Pritzker Presents at Food Safety Litigation Conferece
Attorney Fred Pritzker
Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker spoke at the American Conference Institute’s Foodborne Illness Litigation conference in Chicago on October 27 & 28.
According to the conference program: “The food industry is under the microscope like never before. As reports of food-borne illness continue to rise, it was recently reported that the estimated annual cost of illness caused by only one strain of e.coli is $478,381,766. How much of this expense is your company prepared to bear?”
Representatives from food production companies and food safety lawyers like Pritzker came together for this two-day event of knowledge sharing and networking to educate producers on the legal matters of food safety. Pritzker presented a mock cross examination of an epidemiologist testifying in a foodborne illness outbreak case.
Guest Speaking on Food Poisoning Litigation
The Illinois Environmental Health Association has invited me to be guest speaker at the group’s Central Chapter Annual Education Conference May 13- 14. My speech is entitled, “Representing Foodborne Illness Survivors: How lawyers evaluate and prove foodborne illness claims.” 
I’m looking forward to it. Here’s a blurb that the association has prepared for attendees:
“We are extremely excited to have Fred Pritzker, president and founder of the national food safety law firm, Pritzker Olsen, P.A., in Minneapolis, Minnesota come speak to us about how lawyers evaluate and prove foodborne illness claims. Mr. Pritzker and members of his firm are frequent commentators on food safety issues and have been interviewed and profiled in a number of media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and CNN.”
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.
Comcast Airs In-Depth News Interview with Attorney Fred Pritzker on Food Safety
The producer of Comcast Newsmakers, a topical news program that features in-depth interviews with national experts in their respective fields, requested an interview recently on my favorite subject. Here is a news recap of the interview conducted by news anchor Colleen Needles. You can replay the spot by clicking on the Newsmakers image on the side of this Web page.
MINNEAPOLIS — Through litigation and new laws, there is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to the safety of American food. In the past several years, pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 have caused outbreaks associated with many types of food, including spinach, peanut butter, cookie dough, spices and meat. An estimated 76 million people annually become sick in these types of foodborne illness outbreaks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Frankly we’re having too many outbreaks; too many people are becoming sickened by foodborne illness and I think we are long overdue in making some changes,” said food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker in an interview with Comcast Newsmakers.
Those changes are hopefully on their way, he says, in the form of legislation coalescing into two major food safety bills—one in the U.S. House of Representatives that has already passed and one in the Senate that’s expected to be taken up some time during 2010. These bills, if passed, would constitute Congress’s first major food safety legislation in nearly 70 years.
Money, manpower and the implementation of comprehensive rules are some of the key elements Pritzker says legislators need to consider in their food safety reform efforts.
The ability to trace pathogens back to the source of contamination is also essential, he says, as is the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to order a recall, which the agency currently can’t do. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill would grant the FDA the authority to recall contaminated foods, rather than relying on the food producer to voluntarily issue the recall, as well as increase the rate of inspection for food producers.
Lawsuits that hold food producers accountable for the safety of their products also play a part in shaping food safety policies and procedures, Pritzker says.
“Just as product liability litigation made cars safer, litigation makes food safer,” Pritzker said. “Companies don’t want to risk liability and therefore they’re incentivized to a great extent to make food safety a greater priority because otherwise they’re going to pay for it.”
Fred Pritzker is founder and president of Minneapolis, Minn. – based Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, one of the few law firms in the United States that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. The firm has collected millions of dollars on behalf of victims of food poisoning. For more information, visit our web site or call 1-888-377-8900. Pritzker Olsen has offices at Plaza VII Building, Suite 2950, 45 S. Seventh St., Minneapolis, MN 55402.
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
