Source of Taco John's E. coli Outbreak
The FDA has announced that it is closer to finding the specific source of the Taco John's E. coli outbreak that sickened at least 81 people in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. According to the FDA, "FDA and the State of California, working in conjunction with state health officials in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, have DNA-matched the strain of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria associated with the Taco John's outbreak with two environmental samples gathered from dairy farms near a lettuce-growing area in California's Central Valley." Again, an E. coli outbreak is linked to leafy greens grown near cattle.
The FDA has indicated that it will “address produce safety, including consideration of new regulations, if appropriate, to reduce risk of contamination by pathogens.” So far all the FDA has done is request that the industry establish its own guidelines. This non-action by the FDA has proven to be totally ineffectual. The time for considering whether or not there need to be new regulations should be over. It should have been over when people died last fall from fresh spinach. It should have been over before that when the FDA knew of the danger of growing leafy greens near cattle. Federal regulations prohibiting farmers from growing lettuce, spinach or any other leafy green close to cattle have to be enacted now. Until that happens, we will continue to have E. coli outbreaks that sicken hundreds of people.
Pritzker | Ruohonen is a leading food poisoning litigation law firm and has recovered millions for victims of E. coli outbreaks and other foodborne outbreaks. To contact the firm for a free consultation, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm’s online consultation form. For now, the only deterrent to grossly irresponsible behavior by growers and others in the industry is lawsuits. Call us.
