I asked our AI friends – What are the pros and cons of replacing FDA Commissioner Makary with me – here is the response? This is a very timely question — Makary resigned as FDA Commissioner today, May 12, 2026, amid reports of internal tensions and policy clashes, with the vaping dispute reportedly being a […]
From the October/November 2007 of Food Safety Magazine: Food Safety & the CEO – Keys to Bottom Line Success By William Marler (that’s me) Foodborne illness has, of course, been around as long as there has been food. But the identification and diagnosis of these diseases is an emerging science that is changing all sectors […]
Last week I called on Cargill (same applies to Sam’s Club) to pay the medical costs and wage loss of victims of the E. coli outbreak traced to the company’s frozen ground beef patties. Despite suing Cargill in Minnesota, it has been very quiet on taking responsibility. Cargill recalled nearly 1,000,000 pounds of frozen hamburger […]
A fellow blogger, the Fanatic Cook, both mentioned my Blog (thanks to Law Professor Blog) and the Safe Food Act of 2007. She has set up a Blog to track Congressional sponsors and a way to email those who have not yet to encourage sponsorship. We also just updated our Foodborne Illness site.
It was much easier to track the illnesses caused by Topps E. coli contaminated hamburger as there is a report on-line on the CDC website and the 21,000,000 pounds of hamburger recalled. No such luck with being able to see the same on the Cargill recall. Remember, Cargill recalled nearly 1,000,000 pounds of E. coli […]
Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157 Infections Linked to Topp’s Brand Ground Beef Patties CDC reports as of 12 PM (ET) October 18, 2007, 40 cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection have been identified with PFGE patterns that match at least one of the patterns of E. coli strains found in Topp’s brand frozen ground […]
Everett dad sues over illness linked to pot pie Jim Davis of the Everett Herald talked today: An Everett man is expected to file a lawsuit today against ConAgra Foods in Snohomish County Superior Court, saying his 2-year-old daughter became ill with salmonella after eating one of the company’s pot pies. Eric Robertson alleges that […]
A Banquet frozen turkey pot pie has tested positive for salmonella, according to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection laboratory and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. The unopened pot pie came from the freezer of an individual diagnosed with salmonella in September. We filed our second lawsuit against ConAgra […]
So, yesterday I was at the CDC/USDA/FSIS/FDA sponsored meeting on whether non-E. coli O157:H7 shiga toxins should be considered an adulterant in food and had the opportunity to talk briefly with Dr. Raymond of FSIS about the status of the Topps investigation specifically, and the meat industry in general. I do love my job. Sometimes […]
Herb Weisbaum, aka, “ The Consumer Man” wrote: It has been a really bad year for the meat industry. A record 29 million pounds of contaminated ground beef has been recalled so far this year. The culprit is E. coli O157:H7, the same nasty bacteria that caused the widely publicized Jack in the Box outbreak […]
While I was sitting in a USDA/FSIS/FDA/CDC meeting on E. coli today, we also filed a lawsuit seeking punitive damages against Topps, the New Jersey beef supplier that recalled nearly a year’s supply of frozen ground beef patties after its products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak in September. The lawsuit […]
I’m off to the “other Washington” in the morning to meet with Congressmen and Senators on food safety issues and to attend a conference on E. coli. I know, ya’ll wish you were going. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety […]
No, sorry, this is not a lecture on how to poison lawyers. On Wednesday I get the opportunity to discuss how to determine the strengths and weaknesses of a foodborne illness claim by phone. The below PowerPoint and Paper may be helpful.
It seems that the wheels are coming off the meat industry. Nearly 30,000,000 pounds of meat has been recalled in 2007. More recalls were announced tonight. Georgia Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination Recall Release CLASS I RECALL FSIS-RC-046-2007 HEALTH RISK: HIGH Arko Veal Co., a Forest Park, Ga., […]
Amy and Joshua Reinert took their daughter Isabelle to the emergency room in August when she had a seizure and lost consciousness. Reinert said her daughter continued to have diarrhea for nearly six weeks. It’s the first federal lawsuit stemming this week’s announcement to pull ConAgra’s Banquet and generic pot pies from the shelves due […]
Cargill recalled E. coli contaminated Frozen Hamburger Patties last week. E. coli cases have been linked in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina and now Tennessee. Many of the E. coli cases involve HUS, acute kidney failure. We will be filing suit against Cargill Monday morning in Minnesota. This is not the first time we have had […]