BOSTON, MA (March 15, 2013)—Attorney Bill Marler, the nation’s leading lawyer representing victims of foodborne illness, will address health journalists during a panel on food safety at the Society of Health Care Journalists’ Health Journalism conference this Saturday.  The panel presentation is part of a workshop titled, “Why is food still making us sick in the 21st century,” which will be held at 10:40am at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.  On the panel is:

  • Will Daniels, senior vice president, operations and organic integrity, Earthbound Farm
  • William (Bill) D. Marler, J.D., managing partner, Marler Clark
  • Michael R. Taylor, J.D., deputy commissioner for foods, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  • Moderator: Deborah Schoch, senior writer, CHCF Center for Health Reporting

Marler will discuss how avoiding foodborne illness outbreak litigation has become an incentive for companies to implement strict food safety standards.  He will use real-life examples to illustrate that documents uncovered during litigation can prove companies knew (or should have known) they had a food safety problem before customers began getting sick and will emphasize that in a global food economy, knowing the food safety records of the entire supply-chain is critical.

“It is an honor to be on a panel with Mike and Will.  Mike has long been a hero of mine since he announced in 1994 that E. coli O157:H7 was an adulterant.  That decision has save countless lives over the last 20 years.  Will and I were on opposite sides of the 2006 spinach E. coli O157:H7 outbreak.  However, Will has moved his company into the leader in food safety in the leafy green industry,” aid Marler, who began representing victims of foodborne illness in 1993, during the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak.

Marler continued, “What I’ve learned throughout the last 20 years of foodborne illness litigation is that the warning signs are usually there—companies with food safety problems just tend to ignore them.”

BACKGROUND:  Marler’s law firm, Marler Clark, is the only law firm in the nation with a practice dedicated exclusively to representing victims of foodborne illness.  The firm has represented thousands of victims of E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other food poisoning cases nationwide.  Marler’s arrival on the food safety scene is chronicled in Jeff Benedict’s most recent book, Poisoned:  The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat, which is due to be released in paperback in May.  Millions throughout the world read Marler’s award winning Marler Blog.  Marler is also the publisher of Food Safety News,