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

The International Association for Food Protection has released a series of presentations dealing with a growing concern among the frozen food industry to address the risks of microwavable foods.  Frozen foods have been the target of many recent foodborne illness outbreaks, including the Jeno’s and Totino’s frozen pizza E. coli outbreak and the Banquet Pot Pie Salmonella outbreak.

At the forefront of addressing the issue of microwavable foods is the American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI), which has undertaken various measures to eliminate risks associated with frozen foods.  (Lawsuit prevention is most likely the reason for the AFFIs renewed interest in educating consumers about microwave safety.  Interestingly, food manufacturers commonly defend foodborne illness claims by arguing that it was the consumer's fault for not cooking the product correctly.)

AFFI has developed a guide entitled “Cooking with Microwave Ovens, Nutrition and Food Safety Considerations” which offers consumers ways to prepare nutritious meals with a microwave oven.  AFFI has also been working with microwave manufacturers and various organizations to develop better labeling for microwavable products to account for various power ratings and options on the ovens.

Not-ready-to-eat (NRTE) foods pose one of the biggest concerns to safe microwaving, because if not cooked properly, they are not completely safe to consume and may contain foodborne pathogens.  A group from the Grocery Manufacturers Association has developed guidelines to validate cooking instructions on NRTE foods to make sure that when cooked following the instructions, the food is safe to eat.

The greatest concern about providing the safest cooking instructions revolves around issues with microwave technology itself, and its incapacity to provide uniform heating throughout food.  Uneven cooking allows for hot and cold spots within the food.  It also allows for the failure to inactivate certain pathogens in the food.  Most research shows that heating in microwaves is the primary mode for the inactivation of pathogens, so it is quite important to solve the problem of uneven cooking.

The presentations address a variety of areas that affect uneven heating:

• Non-uniform distribution of dipolar molecules and ionic materials within the food.

• Differences in microwave absorption of frozen/thawed areas.

• Product/component edge heating effects.

• Areas of high and low microwave field strength within the oven cavity and product.

• Different food component and thermal properties.

There are many ways to improve the safety of microwavable products, and doing so will greatly reduce the risk of outbreak of foodborne illnesses related to these products.  As is shown, there is much research and thought going into the betterment of these products to ensure safer products for consumers to prepare.

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Why did Kayla Boner, an athletic 14-year-old girl, die after contracting an E. coli infection and then developing hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in October? Health officials have not yet found the source of the E. coli infection. According to a story on DesMoinesRegister.com, Kayla’s mother believes it was Totino’s pizza:

At first, she associated Kayla's illness with a recent recall of two pizza brands, Totino's and Jeno's. Kayla ate Totino's pepperoni pizza regularly, Boner said, and she now wonders whether the recalled pizza - which has been associated with E. coli infections in 12 states - is the reason her daughter died.

General Mills recalled about 5 million Totino’s and Jeno’s pizzas on November 1 because several people had contracted E. coli infections after eating the pizzas. The E. coli outbreak linked to Totino’s and Jeno’s pizza is one of several E. coli outbreaks in the last few months.  Most of the outbreaks have been linked to ground beef products, and over 28 million pounds of ground beef products have been recalled due to possible E. coli contamination.  If the genetic fingerprint of the E. coli bacteria that killed Kayla does not match any E. coli bacteria involved in outbreaks linked to ground beef, it is still possible that the source of her E. coli infection was ground beef. Not all ground beef is tested for E. coli, and before Kayla became ill, USDA did not get genetic fingerprints of all ground beef that tested positive for E. coli.  Ground beef cannot be ruled out as a source of Kayla’s E. coli infection until another food source is found. For the sake of Kayla’s family and friends, we hope the source is found because they need to know what killed her. 

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21 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 may be linked to Jeno’s and Totino’s pizzas, General Mills products. The cases occurred in Illinois (1), Kentucky (3), Missouri (2), New York (2), Ohio (1), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Tennessee (8), Virginia (1), and Wisconsin (1). According to the CDC at least 8 people were hospitalized, and 4 of them developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).  The earliest case reported to state authorities occurred on July 20, and the latest case reported occurred on Oct. 10.  Nine of the 21 people reported having eaten Totino’s or Jeno’s pizza with pepperoni topping at some point prior to becoming ill. 

In response to these illnesses, General Mills has recalled the following Jeno’s and Totino’s pizzas, all of which were made in the company’s Wellston, Ohio plant:

• 10.2-ounce packages of "Totino's The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza Pepperoni."
• 10.2-ounce packages of "Totino's The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza, Classic Pepperoni."
• 10.2-ounce packages of "Totino's The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza, Pepperoni Trio."
• 10.7-ounce packages of "Totino's The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza, Combination Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza."
• 10.5-ounce packages of "Totino's The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza, Three Meat Sausage, Canadian Style Bacon & Pepperoni Pizza."
• 10.9-ounce packages of "Totino's The Original Crisp Crust Party Pizza, Supreme Sausage & Pepperoni Pizza with Green Peppers & Onions."
• 6.8-ounce packages of "JENO'S CRISP `N TASTY PIZZA, PEPPERONI."
• 7.0-ounce packages of "JENO'S CRISP `N TASTY PIZZA, COMBINATION SAUSAGE AND PEPPERONI PIZZA."
• 7.2-ounce packages of "JENO'S CRISP `N TASTY PIZZA, SUPREME SAUSAGE AND PEPPERONI WITH GREEN PEPPERS AND ONION PIZZA."

Each package of pizza bears the establishment number "EST. 7750" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a "best if used by" date on or before "02 APR 08 WS."

According to General Mills, since July 1 of this year, Totino’s and Jeno’s have distributed more than 120 million pizzas nationwide. The 414,000 cases of frozen meat pizza products subject to this recall were produced on or before Oct. 30 and were distributed to retail establishments nationwide.

Pritzker Lawn is a national food safety law firm. The firm represents victims of E. coli and the families of victims who have died. To contact the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form.

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