The Marler Clark Network
Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on February 26, 2008

Marler Gives Congress Specific Food Safety Reforms

As we promised, Bill Marler was making news today on Capitol Hill.  Along with a bench full of food industry executives, Marler testified before the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Michigan's John D. Dingell.

We go to Andrew Schneider's blog at the Seattle P-I for a quick summary of Bill's major points:

Seattle lawyer William Marler gave the lawmaker an up close and personal view of many victims of food poisoning that he had encountered.

Marler, who has been involved in food safety litigation since the '70s, offered the committee specific recommendation on how the nation's food safety system should be improved.

Create a local, state and national public health system that catches outbreaks before they balloon into a personal and business catastrophe, he said. He explained that everyone believed that the Jack in the Box outbreak that killed four and sickened scores of others started in Seattle in January 1993. But he said it actually began three months earlier "when another child died and another 30 people were sickened in Southern California. He said E. coli was not a reportable illness at the time, "the death and illnesses were not recognized as an outbreak and the contaminated meat was shipped to Seattle."

He said that food must be inspected and sampled before it is consumed. He reminded the committee members that the GAO has warned in the past that our food sampling and inspection is so scattered and infrequent that there is little chance of detecting microscopic E. coli or any other pathogen for that matter.

Consumers, he said, need to know what is being recalled. Voluntary recalls don't work.

Marler warned that turf wars and split responsibilities are gutting the effectiveness of the nation's food safety system and the three federal agencies responsible - CDC, FDA and USDA – should have the food safety mandates merged and properly staffed and funded.

See the rest of the P-I blog here.

Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on February 25, 2008

Hallmark/Westland Was One of USDA's Elite 10

This week, you are going to hear a lot about what the federal government should be doing to clean up its act when it comes to making sure our food supply is safe.  John D. Dingell, powerful chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, is holding a public hearing on Tuesday that will hear from lots of experts, including our own Bill Marler.

With the Chino slaughterhouse scandal bringing the nation's largest beef recall in history, facts are dripping out of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in bits and pieces.   USDA's big wigs held a press conference last Thursday (2/21), and the transcript was published on their website this morning (2/25).

We learned more about the current operation of the 62-year old National School Lunch Program.

Hallmark, which operated the Chino slaughterhouse, was one 23 meat packers eligible to sell product to USDA for schools.  Westmark was one 10 eligible grinders that was eligible.  USDA viewed Hallmark/Westland as "one operation" from which they purchased 20 percent of all beef used by the federal school lunch program.

Bill Session, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, explained:

We have an eligibility process for suppliers that they must go through to be eligible to supply. And this is in course with the federal acquisition regulations. First they have to demonstrate financial solvency and their ability to be financially independent. They have to have the technology and the means as far as the equipment and the personnel to perform the task. They then have to submit what we call a technical proposal, and that outlines all of how they, all the specific processes they will go through to meet the requirements that are contained in our specification and contracts. And then once they submit that technical proposal, it is subject to a desk audit by our scientific staff back here in Washington. Then if it passes that, then they are subjected to an in-plant audit, and that means that they have to be doing what they say they're doing and what they are doing meets the requirements contained in our specification and contractual requirements.

After that, they then become what was known as an "eligible supplier," and they then have to compete on a low-bid basis for the right to supply product. Once they are awarded a contract, we have an in-plant grader that is there monitoring the actual preparation and grinding process, and they oversee all aspects of that. In addition to that, we have monthly audits that they come in and look at all aspects of what was going on there. And additionally – I should say the plant would be operating under a federal grant of inspection; that's the foundation that we build on. We are really no different than any other large commercial purchaser of ground beef items. We rely on our colleagues at FSIS to provide that foundation of safety; then we build on that with other specific requirements that meet the end needs of our users.

As of the press conference, USDA figured that 50.3 million pounds of the Hallmark/Westland beef that is subject to the recall (143.3 million pounds in total) went to federal nutrition projects.  Officials said 19.6 million pounds were consumed (mostly by school children) and 15.2 were "on hold" (mostly in school freezers).  An additional 15.5 million pounds are "being traced."

All product recovered through the recall will be destroyed without further testing, according to USDA.   Contracts require Hallmark/Westland reimburse the school lunch program. 

No E. coli, salmonella or other common food-borne illnesses have been attributed to the recalled beef.  Any reports of Mad Cow disease probably won't be made  for 15 to 30 years.

The entire USDA transcript can be found here.

Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on February 12, 2008

Clark Says Fruits And Vegetables Not Subject To "Kill Step"

New and troubling questions are raised in a story today by the Gannett News Service about the home grown problems that threaten food safety in the United States.   The story by Amanda Gardner quotes Marler Clark partner Bruce Clark about the lack of a "kill step" when it comes to the increasingly tainted fruits and vegetables.

The GNS story reports that:

Increasingly today, produce is grown in fields close to cattle and, sometimes, wild animals. The E. coli spinach contamination could have come from cattle or boar feces, or from contaminated irrigation systems, federal officials concluded.

The widening of E. coli cases from protein products to fresh fruits and vegetables is related to "the fact that U.S. agricultural commodities tend to be grown in areas that have cattle, which are reservoirs for bacteria," explained Bruce Clark, a partner in the Seattle law firm of Marler Clark, which represents victims of food poisoning. "As soon as you have manure on the ground, and you have birds and wild animals and water, you have all these vectors for transferring bacteria to fresh fruits and vegetables."

And most of the time, Clark added, produce is not subjected to the "kill step" (usually cooking), which would eliminate the pathogens. In fact, washing may not even help because of the ability of the organisms to cling to food surfaces.

Check out the whole story here.

Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on February 07, 2008

New Era Recalls Still More Products Due To Botulism

We thought New Era's production of botulism was probably over in mid January when it expanded its recall to include all of the beans and garbanzo beans produced by the Michigan processing plant in the last five years.

We were wrong.

Today, New Era Canning Company announced it was further expanding its recall to include all "vegetable products in #10 cans (large cans containing between 6 and 7 pounds) on the list below because they may have been processed under conditions which could have led to contamination by Clostridium botulinum bacterium spores, which can cause life-threatening illness or death."

This includes a long list of products as New Era cans for many labels around the country.  It also requires consumers to have knowledge of both the Uniform Product Code (UPC) and lot codes.

This ongoing New Era botulism recall has its own website at the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.  Go here to check it out.

Meanwhile here's the latest list of recalled products:

Classic Sysco brand, Distributed by Sysco Corporation, Houston, TX.

Green asparagus cuts & tips (asparagus, water, salt) in 101 oz. (6 lb. 5 oz.) cans (UPC 7486510471). All lot codes beginning with "00249" are included.

Great Northern beans (Great Northern beans, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 7486510486). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "NORTH" are included.

Green beans, Italian cut, (Italian green beans, water, salt), in 105 oz. (6 lb. 9 oz.) cans (UPC 7486511294). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "ITAL" are included.

Light red kidney beans (kidney beans, water, corn sweetener, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 7486510642). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "LRKID" are included.

Red beans (red beans, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 110 oz. (6 lb. 14 oz.) cans (UPC 7486510638). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "RED" are included.

Cut wax beans (wax beans, water, salt) in 101 oz. (6 lb. 5 oz.) cans (UPC 7486511434). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

Code brand, Distributed by Code, Atlanta, GA.

Dark red kidney beans (soaked kidney beans, water, corn sweetener, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans (UPC 1207316042). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "DRKID" are included.

Fancy cut wax beans 4 sieve (wax beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans (UPC 1207310183). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

Frosty Acres Restaurant's Pride Preferred brand, Packed for F.A.B., Inc., Alpharetta, GA.

Black beans (cooked black beans, water, ferrous gluconate, calcium chloride) in 6 lb. 15 oz. cans (UPC 4820049145). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "BLACK" are included.

Blackeye Peas (Blackeye peas, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans (UPC 4820049146). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "BEP" are included.

Fancy Great Northern beans (Great Northern white beans, water, salt, natural flavors and calcium chloride) in 110 oz. (6 lb. 14 oz.) cans (UPC 4820068288). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "NORTH" are included.

Fancy cut Italian green beans (Italian beans, water, salt) in 105 oz. (6 lb. 9 oz.) cans (UPC 4820068390). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "ITAL" are included.

Fancy dark red kidney beans (dark red kidney beans, water, corn syrup, salt, calcium chloride) in 111 oz. (6 lb. 15 oz.) cans (UPC 4820068171). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "DRKID" are included.

Fancy Mexican style chili beans (white beans, water, corn syrup, sugar, tomato paste, salt, dextrose, onion powder, garlic powder, oleoresin paprika, natural flavors) in 111 oz. (6 lb. 15 oz.) cans (UPC 4820068534). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "CHILI" are included.

Fancy pinto beans (pinto beans, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 111 oz. (6 lb. 15 oz.) cans (UPC 4820068939). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "PINTO" are included.

Fancy red beans (prepared red beans, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans (UPC 4820069023). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "RED" are included.

Fancy vegetarian beans in tomato sauce (white beans, water, corn syrup, sugar, tomato paste, salt, dextrose, onion powder, garlic powder, oleoresin paprika and natural flavorings) in 112 oz (7 lb.) cans (UPC 4820069161). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "VEG" are included.

GFS brand, Distributed by Gordon Food Service, Grand Rapids, MI

Fancy all green asparagus cuts & tips (asparagus, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans, reorder no. 229601 (UPC 9390122960). All lot codes beginning with "00249" are included.

Fancy black beans (black beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans, reorder no. 557714 (UPC 9390155771). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "BLACK" are included.

Italian cut green beans (Italian green beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 9 oz. cans, reorder no. 769878 (UPC 9390176987). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "ITAL" are included.

Medium lima beans (lima beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans, reorder no. 118796 (UPC 9390111879). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "LIMA" are included.

Fancy Mexican style chili beans (soaked red beans, water, chili seasoning, salt, corn starch, tomato paste, sugar, calcium chloride) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans, reorder no. 192015 (UPC 9390119201). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "CHILI" are included.

Fancy cut wax beans 4 sieve (wax beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans, 118834 (UPC 9390111883). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

Kitchen Essentials brand, Distributed by Gordon Food Service, Grand Rapids, MI.

Cut wax beans mixed sieve (wax beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans, 274453 (UPC 9390127445). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

Monarch Heritage brand, Packed for PYA/Monarch, Inc, Greenville, SC.

Italian style cut green beans (green beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans, 173865 (No UPC code). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "ITAL" are included.

Necco brand, Packed by New Era Canning Company, New Era, MI.

Cut wax beans (wax beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 6 oz. cans (UPC 3683513440). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

New Era brand, Distributed by New Era Canning Co, New Era, MI.

Asparagus cuts & spears (asparagus, water, salt) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511220). All lot codes beginning with "00249" are included.

Black beans (black beans, water, salt) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511692). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "BLACK" are included.

Black-eyed peas (black-eye peas, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511698). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "BEP" are included.

Butter beans (lima beans, water, salt, sugar, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511694). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "LIMA" are included.

Chili beans in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511675). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "CHILI" are included.

Great Northern beans (Great Northern beans, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 110 oz. (6 lb. 14 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511688). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "NORTH" are included.

Italian Cut Green Beans (Italian beans, water, salt) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511342). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "ITAL" are included.

Light red kidney beans, (kidney beans, water, corn sweetener, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511682). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "LRKID" are included.

Dark red kidney beans, (kidney beans, water, corn sweetener, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511680). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "DRKID" are included.

Lima beans (lima beans, water, salt) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511696). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "LIMA" are included.

Pinto beans (pinto beans, water, salt, calcium chloride, EDTA) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511686). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "PINTO" are included.

Red beans (red beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans (no UPC). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "RED" are included.

Vegetarian beans (white beans, water, cane syrup, tomato paste, corn syrup, salt, vinegar, calcium chloride, onion powder, paprika, spice, natural flavorings) in 108 oz. (6 lb. 12 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511670). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "VEG" are included.

Cut wax beans (wax beans, water, salt) in 102 oz. (6 lb. 6 oz.) cans (UPC 3683511440). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

Nugget brand, Distributed by Nugget, Atlanta, GA.

Asparagus cuts & tips (asparagus, water, salt) in 6 lb. 12 oz. cans, (UPC 4410503580). All lot codes beginning with "00249" are included.

Reliance Sysco, Distributed by Sysco Corporation, Houston, TX.

Cut wax beans 4 sieve (wax beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans, 4108056 (UPC 7486512190). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

Wax beans mixed and short cuts (wax beans, water, salt) in 6 lb. 5 oz. cans, 4182788 (UPC 7486512231). All lot codes beginning with "00249" or "WAX" are included.

 

Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on February 05, 2008

FDA Warns Seafood Processors About North Gulf Fish

Seafood processors were warned today about grouper, amberjack, and related predatory reef species captured in the northern Gulf of Mexico due to recent outbreaks of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) that have been traced to fish from an area in the United States where ciguatera was previously extremely rare.

The warning was issued by the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in both letters to seafood processors and media releases to the public.   The FDA statement in part said:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a letter to seafood processors, advising them of recent illnesses linked to consuming fish carrying the ciguatera toxin, which has led to cases of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) in consumers. The toxic fish were harvested in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, near the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, which is located in federal waters south of the Texas-Louisiana coastline.

FDA had considered CFP from fish in this geographical area extremely rare until recently, when several outbreaks were confirmed in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo. The illnesses were linked to fish caught near the marine sanctuary. FDA now considers CFP to be a food safety hazard that is reasonably likely to occur in grouper, snapper, and hogfish captured within 10 miles of the marine sanctuary and amberjack, barracuda and other wide-ranging species captured within 50 miles of the sanctuary.

For more information from FDA, including the symptoms of CFP, go here.

Posted by Food Poisoning Attorney on February 01, 2008

Dip recalled for possible contamination with Clostridium botulinum

The California Department of Public Health announced today that Olivier brand Parmesan & Asiago Dip with Garlic & Basil was being recalled by Olivier Olive Oil Products, Inc. of Saint Helena, California, due to potential contamination with Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes botulism.  The dip was distributed to Williams-Sonoma retail stores nationwide and to Olivier Napa Valley retail stores in Truckee and St. Helena, California. 

The product was distributed to William-Sonoma retail stores nationwide and to Olivier Napa Valley retail stores located in Truckee and St. Helena, California.

Dip recalled for BotulismThe lot codes on the jars of dip being recalled include:

• OPA 34171
• OPA 23471
• OAP 17271
• OAP 17671
• OAP 36061
• OAP 36161
• OPA 33961

Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Clostridium botulinum is the name of a group of bacteria commonly found in soil. The bacteria are anaerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming rods that produce a potent neurotoxin. These rod-shaped organisms grow best in low oxygen conditions. The bacteria form spores that allow them to survive in a dormant state until exposed to conditions that can support their growth. The organism and its spores are widely distributed in nature. They occur in both cultivated and forest soils, bottom sediment of streams, lakes, and coastal waters, in the intestinal tracts of fish and mammals, and in the gills and viscera of crabs and other shellfish.

Foodborne botulism is a severe type of food poisoning caused by the ingestion of foods containing the potent neurotoxin formed during growth of the organism. The incidence of the disease is low, but the disease is of considerable concern because of its high mortality rate if not treated immediately and properly. Most of the 10 to 30 outbreaks that are reported annually in the United States are associated with inadequately processed, home-canned foods, but occasionally commercially produced foods are implicated as the source of outbreaks. Sausages, meat products, canned vegetables, and seafood products have been the most frequent vehicles for foodborne botulism.
Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on February 01, 2008

New look for food poisoning informational Web sites

The Marler Clark network of food poisoning informational Web sites, which first appeared online in 1998, recently received a makeover. The sites, which were originally put online to provide Internet users with basic information about the illnesses caused by such foodborne pathogens as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Hepatitis A, have increased in breadth over the years to include information about complications caused by foodborne pathogens: hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), reactive arthritis (Reiter’s Syndrome), and Guillain-Barre syndrome. Those sites are:

“We have heard time and again how valuable the information provided on these sites is to parents whose children are in the hospital. When your kid is sick, you arm yourself with as much information as you can, and these sites provide a comprehensive look at these ‘bugs’ and the illnesses they cause,” commented William Marler, managing partner of Marler Clark.

The sites also provide information related to high-profile food poisoning outbreaks that have occurred in the last 15 years. “Since Marler Clark has represented victims of nearly every major foodborne illness outbreak in the last fifteen years, we felt it was important to share the details of these outbreaks with anyone doing research on a particular pathogen,” Marler continued.

Marler Clark has represented thousands of victims of foodborne illness outbreaks since the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. The firm has resolved $300 million worth of cases against such food-companies as AFG, BJ's Wholesale Club, Blimpie's, the Brook-Lea Country Club, Byerly's, Cargill, Carl's Jr., Carneco, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Chi-Chi's, Chili's, China Buffet, ConAgra, Cub Foods, Dole, Emmpak, Excel, Filiberto's, Finley School District, Friendly's, Gate Gourmet, Gold Coast Produce, Golden Corral, Habanero's, Harmony Farms, KFC, King Garden Restaurant, Lund's, Malt-O-Meal, McDonalds, Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co., Natural Selections Foods, Odwalla, Olive Garden, Paramount Farms, Pat & Oscar's, PM Beef Holdings, Quality Inn, Quizno's, Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Robert's American Gourmet (Veggie Booty), Sam's Club, San Antonio Taco, Senor Felix, Sheetz, Silver Grill Location Catering, Sizzler, Sodexho, Spokane Produce, Subway, Sun Orchard Juice Co., Supervalu, Sushi King, Susie Cantaloupe, Taco Bell, Taco John's, Topps, United Food Group (UFG), Viva Cantaloupe, Wal-Mart, and Wendy's.