The Marler Clark Network
Posted by Food Poisoning Attorney on May 31, 2008

Pennsylvania Department of Health Views Raw Milk As "Inherently Unsafe"

We've been wondering if we'd ever hear anything from the public health side of Pennsylvania government.   The state or more specifically its Ag department issues licenses to dairy farms that want to sell raw milk.
Pennsylvania tests raw milk and when those tests show the raw milk has gone bad, it does issue warnings and recalls.
Dr. Stephen Ostroff, Bureau of Epidemiology Director for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, has stepped up to the plate with a guest editorial in the Lebanon Daily News.  Under the headline: Raw milk raw deal for many consumers,  Dr. Ostroff calls raw milk "inherently unsafe."
Here's some more of what Dr. Ostroff has to say:
While the permitting process unquestionably enhances the safety margin of raw milk, and we strongly endorse this program, it is not a substitute for milk pasteurization.

Milk pasteurization is one of society’s greatest public-health achievements. Since its widespread adoption in the 1930s, it has prevented millions of needless illnesses and saved countless lives.

Despite that, some advocates are promoting raw milk in the mistaken belief that it is healthier or more nutritious. The scientific evidence simply does not support this claim.

All of Ostroff's comments can be found here.

 



 
Posted by Food Poisoning Attorney on May 27, 2008

Food Labs Asked To Provide Info To House On Import Tests

Food labs responsible for testing imports for safety are being put under suspicion by the U.S. House Committee on Energy & Commerce.

The Committee's Oversight and Investigations subcommittee has sent out letters to ten food labs, suggesting they had been encouraged by importers to keep testing until the product was found to be safe.

A story on the Oversight subcommittee's action in today's Chicago Tribune comes complete with a picture of a San Francisco chemist--who just happens to be Chinese--working in her laboratory. 
Tribune reporter Stephen J. Hedges quotes from the letter:

"We're gathering information from both the FDA and private industry about the labs almost being complicit in helping importers game the system," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-MI, chairman of the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee that is investigating the labs and food companies. "Someone told us you pay for the result you want to get from the labs."

In addition to the May 1st letter to the labs, the Oversight subcommittee on May 8th wrote to 50 multi-national food companies demanding recall and import documents going back to the year 2000.

"We wish to assess the extent of microbiological and/or chemical contamination occurring during the processing of food and the extent to which controls have failed to prevent or eliminate contamination in food," the committee wrote.
According to the Chicago Tribune:

The role of food testing laboratories became an issue in February, when the CEO of one private lab, Anresco Laboratories of San Francisco, said private labs don't always tell the FDA when tests show that imported food may be contaminated.

So far, only two of the ten food labs have cooperated with the Subcommittee.   We soon will be seeing a bunch of  lab executives rising before the Subcommittee to swear to tell the truth!

Go here for more.
Posted by Food Poisoning Attorney on May 17, 2008

Lifeway Pushes Back Against FDA Order To Shutdown Its Cheese & Seafood

This is interesting.

Lifeway Foods, Inc. and its subsidiary, LFI Enterprises, Inc., both Illinois companies, are pushing back against the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).


The federal government last Thursday (5/15/08) ordered Lifeway to shutdown its cream cheese and seafood operations.  FDA said:

A consent decree of permanent injunction, signed by both corporations and two of their top executives, Julie and Edward Smolyansky (the defendants), halts cream cheese and seafood processing in facilities in Skokie, Ill., and Philadelphia, Pa.

The Smolyanskys did not see it that way.   On the Manufacturing Business & Technology website, they weighed in with separate statements.

Julie Smolyansky, CEO commented, "The Consent Decree has absolutely no impact or affect upon Lifeway's products or production facilities. We vigorously disagree with the allegations of the complaint. These same products have been produced for over 15 years for a very small and select group of customers in the Philadelphia area without one consumer complaint, and while we of course respect the government's position, we do not agree with their unfounded assertions. We know that we are and have been compliant as to any alleged violation asserted in the complaint. We would never place our customers at risk."

Edward Smolyansky, CFO commented, "Lifeway and LFI filed an answer to the complaint denying all material allegations. Lifeway will continue to produce and ship all of its products including its kefir, farmer's cheese, and spreadable cheese products without any interruption. As our most recent quarterly report filed on May 15, 2008 exhibits, our core product lines continue to grow at a tremendous pace, and we have never been more confident about the future of our business as a whole."

Continue Reading...
Posted by Food Poisoning Lawyer on May 16, 2008

FDA Tells Hope Food Supply to Shut Down

We've been watching the Houston area media today for reports on the Hope Food Supply, which has been shutdown on the order of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).  But, we ain't seen much.

There's been no comment out of Hope Food Supply, which has also been ordered to recall all its dried smoked catfish steaks and any other seafoods it has ever produced.  No one seems concerned about people being put out of work.

So maybe Hope Food Supply is a little pissant business, and its passing isn't going to be missed by anybody.  Here's what FDA is saying:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today directed Hope Food Supply Inc., a Pasadena, Texas, food processing company, to shut down and immediately recall all products manufactured from its Texas facility since 2007.

The company, under a different name, had manufactured dried smoked catfish steaks and other smoked seafood products and had been subject to a consent decree of permanent injunction requiring it to develop and implement an adequate Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for its fish and fishery products. The firm had not developed this plan. The company cannot restart manufacturing until they have implemented an FDA-approved HACCP plan.

"We simply will not allow a company to put the public's health at risk by not implementing adequate procedures and plans to produce safe food," said Margaret O'K. Glavin, associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. "The FDA will take action against companies and against their executives who violate the law and endanger public health."

The rest from FDA can be found here.

Posted by Food Poisoning Attorney on May 03, 2008

More Stool Cultures Needed to Catch More Food Poisoning Cases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 76 million foodborne illness cases occur in the United States every year. This amounts to one in four Americans becoming ill after eating foods contaminated with such pathogens as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Hepatitis A, Campylobacter, Shigella, Norovirus, and Listeria.  On an annual basis, approximately 325,000 people are hospitalized with a diagnosis of food poisoning, and 5,000 die.

While most foodborne illness cases go unreported to health departments, nearly 13.8 million food poisoning cases are caused by known agents—30% by bacteria, 67% by viruses, and 3% by parasites (Mead, et al., 1999).  Now an article in Clinical Infectious Disease this month explains why so few cases get reported - Emergency care physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to surveillance for foodborne disease in the United States

The article suggests:

• Because public health surveillance for bacterial foodborne diseases fundamentally depends on stool cultures, we conducted a survey of physicians who attended an emergency medicine conference to describe knowledge, attitudes, and practices among this provider population.

• Thirty-eight percent reported having ordered a stool culture for the most recent patient with acute diarrheal illness examined in the emergency department, but only 26% of the physicians subsequently received the stool culture results.

• For only 2 pathogens (Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella species) did at least one-half of the respondents provide the correct response regarding whether selected diarrheal disease pathogens were reportable in their state.