Lasting Effects Haunt Food Poisoning Victims
PRESS RELEASE
MINNEAPOLIS–Nov. 20, 2009–The numbers are staggering: Each year in the United States foodborne illness causes 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths. This translates into premature death, immeasurable loss of productivity and $6.9 billion in medical costs. And to think one-third of this sum is attributable to food poisoning in children under the age of 10.
An important new study by the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention of Grove City, Pennsylvania, concludes justifiably that the United States needs to start tracking the long-term health consequences of food poisoning involving five separate pathogens: E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and Toxoplasma gondi. The study found that these five organisms may increase the risk of serious, long-term complications such as paralysis from Campylobacter and Guillain-Barre Syndrome; kidney damage from E. coli O157:H7 and HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome; mental retardation; kidney damage; diabetes; arthritis; irritable bowel syndrome; heart infections; blood infections; strokes; visual impairment and hearing impairment.
There is a great deal of uncertainty about the scope of the problem because the links between long-term health problems and prior food poisoning have not been adequately studied and under-reporting of these illnesses is vast.
But national food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker said the study of long-term negative health effects of foodborne illness should be a powerful catalyst for more meaningful food safety reform.
“This study amplifies the true misery associated with foodborne illness,” said Pritzker, president of the firm, Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, based in Minneapolis. “The long term effects of foodborne illness are like a time bomb. Even after the acute symptoms improve, parents need to be watchful and realize that children may have a lifetime of problems.”
The study authors, led by Dr. Tanya Roberts, said more knowledge about the long-range impact of food poisoning would enable health officials to establish food safety priorities that produce the greatest public benefit.
Here are brief summaries of the pathogens and correlating long-term health hazards:
- Campylobacter infection afflicts millions of Americans and hospitalizes over ten thousand annually. It is associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), the most common cause of neuromuscular paralysis in the United States. GBS can
result in permanent disabilities and many patients require long-term care. - E. coli O157:H7 can cause serious foodborne illness, particularly in children. E. coli O157:H7 can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of acute kidney failure in children in the United States. HUS can lead to death or long-term health complications such as end-stage kidney disease, neurological complications and other disabling conditions.
- Listeria monocytogenes, the leading cause of foodborne illness deaths in the United States, infects thousands of Americans every year and has been associated with infections of the brain and spinal cord, resulting in serious
long-term neurological dysfunctions and impaired ability to see, hear, speak or swallow. Most reported cases occur in children under the age of 4, but most of the deaths are in the elderly population. In pregnant women, listeriosis can cause miscarriage, premature birth or still birth. - Salmonella, as well as other foodborne pathogens, can trigger reactive arthritis (ReA) in certain individuals,
leaving them with temporary or permanent arthritis. ReA causes painful and swollen joints and can greatly affect an individual’s ability to work and quality of life. Besides ReA, Salmonella is also associated with many other
complications and is the second leading cause of foodborne illness deaths in the United States. Nearly half of all
reported Salmonella cases occur in children. - Toxoplasma gondii is the third leading cause of foodborne illness deaths in the United States. Infection can result
in visual impairment or mild to severe mental retardation, with 80% of infected fetuses/infants manifesting
impairment by age 17.
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Fred Pritzker is founder and president of 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 http://www.pritzkerlaw.com or contact Fred
Pritzker at 1-888-377-8900, or fhp@pritzkerlaw.com. Pritzker Olsen has offices at Plaza VII Building, Suite 2950, 45
S. Seventh St., Minneapolis, MN 55402.
New Study Stresses Importance of Tracking Many Long-Term Effects of Foodborne Illness
An important new study of the long-term negative health effects of foodborne illness should be a powerful catalyst for more meaningful food safety reform in the United States.
As a society we have been understandably focused most heavily on the acute phases of food poisoning — usually vomiting, extremely painful stomach cramping, extended bouts of diarrhea and severe dehydration. To some extent, it trivializes the true hazards — especially for young children who are sickened by contaminated food.
The study by the Center for Foodborne Illness in Grove City, Pennsylvania, summarizes past findings and concludes that national public health agencies need to start tracking more systematically the long-term side effects of infection by five pathogens: E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and Toxoplasma gondi.
The study found that these five organisms may increase the risk of serious, long-term complications such as paralysis from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, kidney damage from E. coli HUS, mental retardation, kidney failure, diabetes, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, heart infections, blood infections, strokes, visual impairment and hearing impairment.
The study authors, led by Tanya Roberts, have called for stronger national surveillance that definitively monitors the long-term health consequences of foodborne illness. The research affirms what our national food safety law firm, Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, has seen first hand for many years: Anybody affected by foodborne illness has to be aware of the long-term risks they face as well as the acute sickness.
Craig Hedberg of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health professionally reveiwed the study findings and told ABC News that there is a great deal of uncertainty about the magnitude of these problems and the scope of the issue. We agree with his assessment that national surveillance is an important investment — something we need as a country to understand the overall impact of foodborne illness in order to raise prevention.
For a look at the new foodorne illness study, click here.
Color of Ground Beef Not an Indicator of Safe Food
In the current Fairbank Farms E. coli outbreak, at least 25 persons in 10 states have been infected with the same strains of E. coli O157:H7, including two who have died and three who have developed E. coli HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome.
On Halloween, Fairbank Farms recalled some 270 tons of ground beef that could be contaminated with the outbreak strain of this pathogen. State and federal health officials are cautioning consumers to check their freezers for the recalled ground beef, which was produced September 14, 15 and 16 and is marked with “EST 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. For a complete list of retailers who sold the hamburger meat, click here.
E. coli O157:H7 was banned from fresh ground beef in the United States in 1994 and an inspection monitoring program was started. Consumers are not to blame when contaminated meat ends up in their kitchen and sickens a family member. But whether preparing a home-cooked meal of hamburgers or ordering a hamburger from a restaurant, you should always ensure for your own safety that patties have been cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. The simple rule is this: Color is not an indicator of doneness. An instant-read food thermometer will do the job.
Prior to June 1997, consumers who did not use a food thermometer were advised by USDA to cook ground beef patties
until the center and the cooked-out juices were no longer pink. Consumers were also advised to look for a firm “cooked” texture rather than a softer “raw or rare” texture in the meat.
However, research at Kansas State University in 1995 raised questions regarding the visual checks. Consequently, in June 1997, USDA issued a press release advising consumers to use a food thermometer when cooking ground beef patties, and not to rely on the internal color of the meat. Cooking to an internal temperature of 160 °F throughout kills E. coli O157:H7.
We now know that ferric pigment in ground beef can make the meat look brown even when raw. This depends on the exposure to oxygen and other factors in storage.
When ground beef is cooked, it changes color from red to pink to brown. If the meat is already brown, it will not change color during cooking. According to the USDA, recent research has shown some ground beef patties to look well-done at internal temperatures as low as 131 °F. The USDA’s own research has shown that more than 25 percent of fresh ground beef patties turned brown prematurely.
Conversely, some extra lean ground beef can still be pink on the inside when cooked to 160 degrees.
When eating out, ask your server if ground beef patties have been cooked to at least 155 °F for 15 seconds, as
recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Code. If not, send it back.
Reminders like this are important for the prevention of illness due to E. coli O157:H7, especially during an outbreak involving a half million pounds of ground beef. Our law firm has seen the devastation time and again brought by adulterated, undercooked hamburger.
E. coli HUS, in particular, is an extremely serious condition. It can cause kidney failure, brain damage, strokes, and seizures. The most likely victims are children under 5 and adults over 60.
October Spate of Ground Beef E. coli Recalls
Contaminated ground beef is the largest source of E. coli O157:H7 infection in the United States and more often than not the recalls and associated outbreaks of illness flare up in the spring and summer — when warmer temperatures boost colonization of the microbes.
But here it is on Halloween and in the past three weeks or so there have been four separate recalls of ground beef and other beef products due to possible adulteration from E. coli O157:H7. The last two recalls have been associated with outbreaks of E. coli illness in New England — specifically Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The spate of problems with ground beef is further proof that the U.S. isn’t making progress in keeping this pathogen out of our food. In fact, there has been a couple of years of backsliding.
The biggest of the four ground beef E. coli recalls in October was announced early this morning by the USDA and Ashville, New York,-based Fairbanks Farms. A whopping total of 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef produced by Fairbanks in mid-September was recalled after the product was associated with a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 infections in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine.
The ground beef products were sold through meat cases at Trader Joe’s, Shaw’s, Lancaster and Wild Harvest, BJ’s, Ford Brothers and Giant under individual store labels. Consumers should look for USDA establishment number EST 492 inside the USDA mark of inspection, regardless of where it was sold. The recalled ground beef has sell-by dates ranging from Sept. 19-28 and a few products have sell-by dates in early October. Click here and scroll down to see the complete recall list.
Earlier in the week, Crocetti’s Oakdale Packing Co. doing business as South Shore Meats Inc. recalled 1,039 pounds of ground beef patties and bulk ground beef tied to an outbreak of E. coli among Rhode Island Lincoln Middle School sixth graders. The students were served a hamburger meal at Camp Bournedale, a nature camp in Plymouth, Massacusetts. More than 20 kids and chaperones were injured in that outbreak, including at least two who were hospitalized.
Prior to the Lincoln Middle School E. coli outbreak, San Diego Meat Co. in California recalled 925 pounds of ground beef patties and bulk ground beef sold to restaurants. Around the same time, Culebra Meat Market of Texas recalled 4,000 pounds of carne asada, stew meat and ground beef that had been sold to regional restaurants after tests detected E. coli O157:H7 in samples.
Federal lawmakers who are once again beating the drum for food safety won’t have to look back much further than the month of October to know that the existing ban against E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef is not enough to prevent life-threatening food poisoning. The House already has passed a reform bill this year and the Senate is currently in the process of formulating its own bill. A frightful month of October should help the cause.
To contact national food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker, call him at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or email him at fhp@pritzkerlaw.com. Mr. Pritzker currently represents E. coli HUS victims and continues to be involved on the side of consumers in practically every major E. coli outbreak in the U.S.
Officials Track E. coli Hamburger Outbreak to Packer
A meat packing company that supplied ground beef to Camp Bournedale in Plymouth, Massachusetts, has recalled 1,039 pounds of product that may be contaminated by E. coli O157:H7. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has associated the Lincoln School E. coli outbreak with contaminated hamburger from South Shore Meats Inc. of Brockton, Massachusetts.
Fred Pritzker On Newsmakers
