Food Poisoning Law Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : PritzkerLaw : Food Safety, Outbreaks & Recalls

Solving the Salmonella outbreak linked to Mexican-style, fast food "Restaurant Chain A" in Texas, Oklahoma and eight other states took a classic, collaborative approach by a combination of federal, state and local public health agencies. Authorities have refused to identify the name of this fast-food chain to citizens.

This outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis sickened at least 68 people and now appears to be over, but any Restaurant A Salmonella lawsuit will depend on the epidemiology that convinced the FDA and CDC to conclude that some item of produce from a common source was the likely cause. National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is accepting cases from this outbreak and has represented victims of past restaurant outbreaks, collecting millions of dollars to compensate them for the harms they suffered.  Free consultations for this Mexican-style fast food outbreak are available at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or individuals can leave contact information here and a Salmonella lawyer from the firm will call you.

Mexican fast food Salmonella investigation

Among 52 ill persons for whom information was available, 60 percent reported eating at Restaurant Chain A in the week before illness onset. Ill persons reported eating at 18 different locations of the chain in the week before becoming ill. Three locations were identified where more than one ill person reported eating in the week before becoming ill. This finding indicates that contamination likely occurred before the contaminated food product reached chain locations.

Further epidemiologic study based on interviews with 48 ill people and 103 who were not sick indicated that 62 percent were more likely to report eating at Restaurant Chain A in the week before illness. Only 17 percent of well respondents said they ate at the chain in the previous week. No specific food item or ingredient was found to be associated with illness due to common ingredients being used together in many menu items such as tacos, burritos, and taco salads, but 90 percent of ill respondents reported eating lettuce, 77 percent reported eating cheese and 35 percent reported eating tomatoes. Ninety four precent reported eating ground beef, but investigators discounted ground beef as a possible source of illness because of the restaurant chain's protocols for safe cooking.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

National food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker has been invited to participate in a debate about raw milk at Harvard Law School’s Food Law Society on February 16, 2012.

Raw milk, or milk from cows, sheep or goats that hasn’t been pasteurized, has become a hot topic. Enthusiasts nationwide are seeking ways to ease purchasing and production restrictions, despite warnings from health officials about its inherent danger.

Proponents say raw milk contains healthful microorganisms that pasteurized milk does not, and that drinking it can aid digestion, boost the immune system and ease the symptoms of allergies and asthma.

While there is no scientific evidence to support these claims, there is ample evidence that pasteurization saves lives by killing dangerous pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter and Listeria.

Raw milk products account for the bulk of all dairy product-associated foodborne illness outbreaks reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Over the 36-year period between 1973 and 2009, a whopping 82 percent were caused by raw milk or cheese made from raw milk. Between 1998 and 2009, raw milk and raw milk products caused 93 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness, according to the CDC. Those outbreaks sickened 1,837 people, 195 of whom required hospitalization, two of whom died. Almost 80 percent of the outbreaks involved at least one child or teenager. In 2011, there were at least 10 foodborne illness outbreaks linked to raw milk.

Mr. Pritzker has represented victims of raw milk outbreaks, including the family of a man who became paralyzed from the neck down after drinking raw milk that was tainted with Campylobacter.

Many medical and scientific organizations recommend pasteurization for all milk consumed by humans; these include CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, and others.

Despite its risks, the sale of raw milk is legal in some states. The science and safety or raw milk will be covered at the Harvard debate.
Participants will include:

Fred Pritzer, founder of PritzkerOlsen Law Firm
Dr. Heidi Kassenborg, director of the Dairy and Food Inspection Division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture
Sally Fallon Morell, president of Weston A. Price Foundation
David Gumpert, author of The Raw Milk Revolution.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Health officials in Massachusetts are trying to determine if tainted raw milk was the source of a case of brucellosis, a disease so rare in the U.S. that a 1999 New Hampshire case prompted a bioterror investigation.

Brucellosis is caused by the Brucellla bacteria and is normally seen in countries that do not have good public health or animal health programs. It's been decades since the bacteria has been found in Massachusetts livestock, state agriculture officials said. Drinking raw milk or eating unpasteurized milk products is one way humans can contract brucellosis and a number of other serious illnesses.

Here's a look at raw milk outbreaks and recalls during 2011:

November 2011 Three customers who drank raw milk from Cozy Vale Creamery, Tenino, Wash. contracted E.coli infections. The dairy recalled raw milk after E.coli was discovred in the milking parlor.

November 2011 Five children who drank milk produced by Organic Pastures in Fresno, Calif, contracted E.coli infections.

October 2011 Two people are sickened after drinking raw milk tainted with Campylobacter produced on Jerry Dell Farm in Freeville, NY.

September 2011 Pride & Joy Creamery, Granger Wash., The diary issued a recall after Shiga-toxin producing E. coli was discovered in a sample during random testing by the health deaprtment.

July 2011  Three confirmed cases of Campylobacter infection linked to raw milk at Tucker Adkins Dairy, York, S.C.

June 2011 At least seven people in Alaska are sickened after drinking raw milk produced on a Mat-Su Valley farm that was ainted with Campylobacter.

June 2011 Three people contract Q Fever after drinking raw milk contaminated with Coxiella burnetti from a Livingston County, Michigan farm.

June 2011 Sixteen people in Wisconsin contract Campylobacter infections after drinking raw milk at a school event.

April 2011 Four people in Texas are sickened including one woman who was hospitalized with a Salmonella infecttion after drinking raw milk.

Feb 2011 Raw milk is recalled from the The Country Market in Wash. after E.coli 0157:H7 is found.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 An astute doctor recognized that persistent flu like symptoms in a Massachusetts man could be brucellosis, prompting state public health officials to investigate Twin Rivers Farm in Ashley Falls. The patient purchased raw milk from the farm in late December and officials are urging any other customers to discard the product. It is not sold at retail stores.

Brucellosis is an infectious disease primarily from animal to animal, but it can be acquired by humans through consumption of raw milk. The disease can become more serious and infect the central nervous system or organs and can cause long-lasting or chronic symptoms that include recurrent fevers, joint pain, and fatigue.

State epidemiologist Dr. Alfred DeMaria said no other human infections have been reported. Tests for the bacteria brucella in the man who is suspected of having the bug are expected to be complete next week.

Brucellosis is not very common in the United States, where 100 to 200 cases occur each year, but brucellosis can be very common in countries where animal disease control programs have not reduced the amount of disease among animals. The U.S. has worked hard to do that.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A Massachusetts man diagnosed with brucellosis, also known as Malta Fever, may have contracted the infection after drinking raw milk.

Brucellosis is an infection caused by Brucellla, a bacteria that is usually transmitted from animal to animal, but can be transmitted to humans who consume raw milk, or milk that has not been pasteurized. It’s been decades since the bacteria has been found in Massachusetts livestock, agriculture officials said.

Investigators are still trying to determine the source of the infection and are not certain that it is raw milk. Results of preliminary tests to confirm the infection are expected back next week.

The patient purchased raw milk from Twin Rivers Farm in late December. The Western Massachusetts dairy, which only sells raw milk at its on-site store and does not distribute it to retail operations, has discontinued raw milk sales pending the test results. Health officials are urging anyone who bought raw milk on the farm to discard it.

Brucellosis is a rare disease, less than 200 cases occur in the U.S. each year, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

According to the Massachusetts Department of Health:

Brucellosis is a systemic disease with acute or insidious onset characterized by sustained, intermittent, or irregular fever of variable duration. Symptoms include headache, weakness, chills, profuse sweating, joint aches, depression, weight loss, and generalized aching. Localized and chronic localized infections of organs (including the liver and spleen) can occur.

Complications affecting the bones and joints are common (they occur in 20–60% of cases), with sacroiliitis occurring most frequently. Involvement of the genitourinary system, including orchitis and epididymitis, occurs in up to 20% of cases in males. Neurologic symptoms can occur in up to 5% of cases. The disease may last for days, months, or occasionally longer, if inadequately treated. Most cases recover, but some individuals develop significant disabilities. 

If you have legal questions about brucellosis, contact the foodborne illness attorneys at PritzkerOlsen P.A. for a free consultation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

A Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 68 people in 10 states is the latest in a recent string of foodborne illness outbreaks linked to Mexican-style food.

On January 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its first and final report on a multi-state Mexican fast food outbreak but did not name the restaurant chain.

Those with confirmed cases of the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis in each state is as follows: Texas (43), Oklahoma (16), Kansas (2), Iowa (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (1), Ohio (1), and Tennessee (1). Investigators were unable to identify the specific food source of the outbreak, but say that the contamination likely occurred before the product reached the restaurant locations.

According to the CDC, restaurants are the most commonly identified setting for foodborne outbreaks. Recent outbreaks associated with Mexican-style restaurants include:

• A December 2011 Salmonella outbreak linked to Don Julio Mexican Restaurant in Corinth, MIss. that that sickened 59 patrons and staff.
• A September 2011 Salmonella outbreak linked to a Mexican restaurant in Grandville, Mich. that sickened at least one patron.
• Two August 2010 Salmonella outbreaks linked to a Mexican-style fast food chain that sickened at least 155 people in 18 states.

Salmonella is a bacteria that, if ingested, can cause an infection called salmonellosis. About 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported annually n the United States, but because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be thirty times that number, according to the CDC.

Salmonellosis symptoms usually develop 12 to 72 hours after infection and include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps lasting four to seven days. In some cases, hospitalization is required. Those most at risk are young children, the elderly and the immunocompromised.

If you have legal questions about an illness you believe is associated with this outbreak, contact a Salmonella lawyer at PritzkerOlsen P.A. for a free consultation.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Texas and Oklahoma were hardest hit by a Salmonella outbreak that public health investigators traced to a Mexican-style fast food restaurant chain that operates in at least 11 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not name the restaurant chain in its only report on the outbreak, but it noted that 86 percent of the case patients were from Texas or Oklahoma.

A total of 68 people were infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis, including 43 in Texas and 16 in Oklahoma. The other states with confirmed illnesses were Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa , Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska,  New Mexico, Ohio, and Tennessee. About a third of the individuals were hospitalized.

Food safety law firm PrtizkerOlsen, P.A., is prepared to help any family or individual sickened in this outbreak. Questions about possible foodborne illness litigation can be directed to any attorney at the firm, 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and a lawyer will respond. Free case consultations are central to our practice and clients don't owe us anything until a claim is obtained for them.

Salmonella is the most common bacterial cause of foodborne outbreaks in the United States and approximately half of all Salmonella outbreaks occur in restaurant settings. Harms from an infection be long-lasting, at times causing a painful and disabling condition known as reactive arthritis or Reiter's Syndrome.

Investigators believe the outbreak may have been caused by a contaminated produce item that arrived by truck delivery, but efforts to pinpoint the food responsible for the outbreak did not succeed. The outbreak is now over, but it spanned most of October and November and spiked in late October.

It's not clear why the CDC did not name the restaurant chain, but the company's identity will become known as PritzkerOlsen investigates on behalf of outbreak victims. Anyone who contracts food poisoning at a restaurant is entitled to damages from the restaurant. This is the case even when the specific food source is not determined by health investigators or when the restaurant unknowingly accepts food already contaminated with a pathogen and serves it. Restaurants are an important filter in the U.S. food safety system. We rely on them to hand-pick suppliers that provide wholesome and unadulterated ingredients.

When restaurant owners are held accountable for making people sick, our food safety system is strengthened for the good of everyone.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

 A multistate Salmonella outbreak linked to a Mexican-style fast food restaurant chain has sickened 68 people in 10 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Almost one third of those sickened with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Enteritidis required hospitalization. The number of confirmed cases in each state is as follows: Texas (43), Oklahoma (16), Kansas (2), Iowa (1), Michigan (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Mexico (1), Ohio (1), and Tennessee (1).

Among those for whom information was available, 60 percent reported eating at the fast food chain in the week before the onset of illness. Illnesses began on or after October 13, 2011. Patients ranged in age from <1 to 79 years, the median age was 25. Fifty-four percent of patients were female. No deaths were reported.

A collaborative investigation by federal, state and local investigators was unable to identify a specific food associated with illness, but data indicate that contamination likely occurred before the product reached the restaurant locations.

Among the ill who reported eating at the restaurants, 90 percent reported eating lettuce, 94 percent reported eating ground beef, 77 percent reported eating cheese, and 35 percent reported eating tomatoes. This outbreak’s epidemic curve is consistent with produce-related outbreaks, according to the CDC. The restaurant’s meat handling and cooking practices make it unlikely that ground beef was the source.

Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause serious illness if ingested. Symptoms including diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps usually develop 12 to 72 hours after infection. In some cases, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized or the infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. Young children, the elderly and those with impaired immune systems are most at risk.

If you have legal questions about an illness or hospitalization associated with this outbreak, contact the foodborne illness attorneys at PritzkerOlsen P.A. for a free consultation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Commercially available Salmonella latched onto the lab coats, pens, keys, cell phones, mp3 players and whatnot of microbiology students and workers in an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium that sickened more than 100 people in 38 states, killing one.

In a final report on the year-long outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week reported a correlation between illness and a lack of biosafety training and awareness. Minnesota and Pennsylvania led the country with nine illnesses each while Georgia had six cases and the state of Washington had five. Several states had four case patients.

The illnesses began showing up in late August 2010 and the outbreak lasted through June 2011. Among those sickened by the organism were children at the homes of lab students and workers -- proof that the pathogen traveled on objects needlessly taken into a laboratory or on lab clothing that should only have left the facility for laundering.

The link between illness and lack of biosafety awareness and training was found in professional surveys among varying groups of lab workers and students.

"Staff working at laboratories that were associated with illness were less likely to have knowledge of biosafety training materials,'' the CDC report said. "In comparison, staff working in laboratories that were not associated with illness were more likely to train students and staff on the signs and symptoms of infection with Salmonella when conducting safety training.''

The CDC report included advice to students, lab workers and lab managers. One piece of advice for managers is to use either non-pathogenic or attenuated bacterial strains when possible, especially when teaching.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Hannaford Supermarkets, which has been linked to the ground beef Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 19 people in seven states, ignored longstanding federal recommendations on minimizing food safety hazards in raw ground meat.

First published in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) , Guidance for Beef Grinders and Suppliers of Boneless Beef and Trim Products  states that grinders should “prevent any mixing of product from different suppliers” and should maintain records detailed enough “to identify, trace, and retrieve from commerce any ground beef products that may pose a threat to public health.”

After opening an investigation to pinpoint the original source of the outbreak linked to meat produced at Hannaford Supermarkets, the USDA found that the company’s inadequate records and practice of packaging ground meat from multiple suppliers mired traceback efforts.

This situation is precisely what the agency has hoped to avoid by publishing and republishing beef grinding guidelines over the last 15 years. Although following USDA guidelines is not required under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, doing so can minimize the impact of food safety hazards associated with raw ground meat. For example, the three basic principles of the grinding guidelines are:

“First, grinders and their suppliers should address hazards from pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in their raw materials, as they are responsible under HACCP to identify and address all hazards reasonably likely to occur. 

• Second, grinders and their suppliers should realize that they are in an excellent position to implement process and distribution controls that address public health hazards associated with ground beef, such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. 

• Third, there must be an emphasis throughout the production and distribution chain on maintaining the records that are necessary to identify, trace, and retrieve from commerce any ground beef products that may pose a threat to public health. “

One section explains why keeping products from different suppliers separate is important:

“Grinders receiving product from more than one supplier should prevent any mixing of product from different suppliers. Keeping product from different suppliers separate will prevent any potentially E. coli O157:H7-contaminated source material from adulterating source materials from other suppliers. By separating raw materials from different suppliers, grinders will be able to identify the potential source of any E. coli O157:H7-contaminated product should the pathogen be detected. If ground beef produced from raw materials coming from a supplier is confirmed positive for E. coli O157:H7, FSIS intends to notify the supplier that they may have supplied E .coli O157:H7-positive product to a grinding establishment or retail facility.” 

Another guidance,  Sanitation Guidance For Beef Grinders, issued last week, gives examples of   how to keep good records:,

Good records include:

1. Producing store name

2. Address

3. City/state/zip

4. Date of each lot of store ground product produced, where a lot is defined as all 

identically labeled product produced from full equipment clean-up to clean-up

5. Exact name/type of store ground product

6. Amount of each lot of store ground product

7. Sell by/use by date and/or production code of each lot of store ground product

8. Other information used to identify store ground product

9. Full name(s) and product code(s) of all source products used to formulate each lot 

of store ground product

10. All Federal or State Establishment numbers of each source product contained in 

each lot of store ground product

11. Each source product sell by, use by, or production date/code    

12. The source firm name, establishment number and use by/sell by/production 

date/code for all Shop trim/rework used in each lot of store ground product

13. Date and Time the grinder was sanitized between source materials

14. Bills of Sale (e.g. sales receipts) reflecting Item numbers for each ground beef 

product sold to consumers

15. Invoice(s) and Bill(s) of lading for source product(s) 

Grinding Record

Time of grind

Lot/Batch Number (lot=same source material)

Exact Name/Type of Product Produced

Package Size of Product Produced

Amount (in pounds) produced

Production Code of Product of Product Produced

Manufacturer, Name of Source Material Used

Supplier, Product Code and/or Pack Date of Source Material Used

Establishment Information from label of Source Product Used (Est. #, ph #, contact info)

Grinder Cleaned and Sanitized Between Source Materials? 

If Y, Date and Comments

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Click here for full details of the Hannaford ground beef recall. Packages have sell-by dates of December 17, 2011, or earlier. Epidemiologists in Maine and New York have confirmed by testing product found in the homes of two ill people that hamburger in recalled packages is contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium. This strain is resistant to multiple antibiotics, which may be associated with an increase in the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals. Nearly half of case patients have been hospitalized.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

An investigation of the Michigan E. coli outbreak linked to The Ambassador restaurant in the Upper Peninsula town of Houghton is still ongoing, a health department spokeswoman confirmed this morning.

At least seven people who ate at the restaurant in late December have confirmed cases of E. coli poisoning, four of them have been hospitalized, according to the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department.

Health officials have determined that the likely source of the outbreak was an ill food-handler at the restaurant and are urging anyone who who became ill with bloody diarrhea in late December or early January to contact the health department.

E.coli is a bacteria that can cause serious sometimes fatal infections if ingested. Symptoms of an E.coli infection include severe abdominal cramping and diarrhea that progressively Young children, the elderly, or those who are immunocompromised are most at risk. In about 8 percent of cases, patients can develop Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) a condition that causes kidney failure and requires hospitalization for treatment which includes dialysis and transfusions.

If you have legal questions about an illness or hospitalization associated with this outbreak, contact the foodborne illness attorneys at PritzkerOlsen P.A. for free consultation. A toll free number is also available: 1(888) 377-8900.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

More than a quarter of a million Americans are sickened by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The most common STEC strain is E. coli O157:H7, the strain at the heart of the outbreak linked to The Ambassador restaurant in Houghton, Michigan that has sickened seven people.

Between 5 and 10 percent of those diagnosed with an STEC infection, develop a potentially life threatening complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS usually effects children under 10, but it can also effect adolescents and adults. People with HUS require hospitalization because their kidneys can fail. HUS usually runs its course within 15 days, but it can lead to serious long-term illness including:

Kidney Failure 

HUS is the leading cause of kidney failure in children. Impaired urine production during HUS can lead to long-term health consequences including chronic kidney impairment.

Neurological Damage 

During the acute stage of HUS, patients can experience seizures, stroke or coma. These can cause long-lasting or permanent neurological damage.

Diabetes 

During the acute phase of HUS, patients can develop diabetes, which can persist over the long term.

Gastro-intestinal problems

HUS patints are at risk of developing gall stones, irritable bowel syndrome, or experiencing a narrowing of the small intestine or colon.

 If you have legal questions about an illness or hospitalization associated with this outbreak, contact  the attorneys at PritzkerOlsen P.A. for a free consultation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The Ambassador E. coli restaurant outbreak in Houghton, Michigan, may include more than the seven case patients already confirmed. Health officials in the Upper Peninsula are urging any families to report illnesses suffered by customers of the restaurant since December.

The reason others may have been infected is that the outbreak has been traced to an ill food worker who spread E. coli O157:H7 bacteria to diners. So far, authorities know of four people who were hospitalized with the outbreak strain of E. coli after eating at The Ambassador around Christmas time.

E. coli-infected people need to be isolated from school or work because they can shed the organism in their stool even when they are not showing symptoms of illness. Specific guidelines regarding return to work or school may vary depending on individual parameters; consultations with the local or state health department are recommended.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link