Families of Salmonella Outbreak Victims Fight for Food Safety Bill
Nellie Napier was the ninth and last person on record to die from Salmonella during the outbreak
that sickened more than 700 people in the United States last year. The contamination was traced to Peanut Corp. of America, which recalled its products on Jan. 28, two days after Mrs. Napier died.
With the upcoming one year anniversary of her death weighing heavily on family members, they have joined a group representing 27 people affected by the outbreak by writing a letter to members of the U.S. Senate to pass Senate Bill 510 -- a food safety reform act that should be headed to the Senate floor in the near future. Also in the victims' group are heirs of Shirley Mae Almer of Perham, Minnesota. It was Shirley's death in late 2008 that helped public health investigators trace the horrible outbreak to peanut products. Her son, Jeffrey Almer, gave key testimony a year ago in Washington, D.C., before a Congressional panel that has been instrumental in the reform effort.
Nellie Napier, from Ohio, and Shirley Almer were both charismatic, bright lights in their respective families. They are now represented in Salmonella wrongful death litigation by national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen. The leader in foodborne illness litigation also represents the family of Doris Flatgard, another beloved and precious individual who died as the result of contaminated peanuts in the food supply.
The families of the victims have written a letter to members of the Senate to honor their word and quickly pass the food safety bill to prevent future outbreaks. The legislation would be paired with language already adopted in the House. The changes -- designed to make our system more preventative than reactive -- have been pushed by President Obama.
Randy Napier, one of Nellie's sons, says the victims' group wants the Senate bill passed by Valentine's Day.
“We’re talking to senators, telling them our story with our mother, and trying to get this food safety bill passed,” Randy Napier told The Gazette, a newspaper from Medina County, Ohio, where the family is from.
Randy, and his brother Jeff, of Rittman, have traveled to Washington, D.C., twice to urge lawmakers to pass reforms that will increase inspections at food-processing plants, improve traceback investigations during outbreaks and give mandatory recall authority to the Food and Drug Administration.
