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 […]
Health agency inspections and documentation One extraordinarily effective tool in establishing the defectiveness of a product that no longer exists is uncovering documentation of the food service establishment’s track record from previous health inspections. This may include information regarding prior incidents or accusations of food contamination and prior inspections of the facility and the establishment’s […]
Two victims of the 2005 E. coli outbreak traced to a petting zoo at the Florida Strawberry Festival resolved claims brought against the festival last week. Both victims, a woman and a young child, suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (www.about-hus.com) and required extensive medical treatment, including dialysis, after contracting E. coli O157:H7 at the 2005 Florida […]
What you eat can make your sick – May 19th and 20th at 8:00 PM EST America’s dirty little secret. Do you know what you’re really eating? Dr. Sanjay Gupta uncovers the truth.
It is great to see the New York Times focusing attention on food safety – especially E. coli O157:H7 – and quite pleased to see that our clients, the Armstrongs, were interviewed: Elizabeth Armstrong did not give the Food and Drug Administration much thought until her children became ill from eating contaminated bagged spinach. Her […]
Health agency investigation Although statutes and regulations vary from state to state, there are a number of bacterial and viral illnesses associated with food consumption that are monitored by health departments, including E. coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Norovirus, and hepatitis A. For most of these pathogens, a positive lab result from a human […]
CNN Special Unit Investigation: Saturday, May 19, & Sunday, May 20: 8 p.m. & 11 p.m. EST I was interviewed for this story – it will be interesting to see how much of the interview is used.
It would figure that the CDC claims this to be Hepatitis Awareness Month — May 2007 Health officials are warning people not to eat raw shellfish after 13 Arizonans, one of them a Yuma County resident, contracted hepatitis A from eating uncooked oysters at Rocky Point, Son., in March. “These cases are a reminder that […]
The Legal Process: Tools used in evaluating claims of foodborne illness It is predictable that some people are inclined to issue claims of dubious legitimacy, or that are simply fraudulent. In our work as litigators, we see no shortage of bogus claims. There are claims that food looked or “smelled funny,” claims of finding foreign […]
I get asked quite often what I do and how I do it. Below is the beginning of a ten part series that I have been working on – I hope you find it helpful. Part 1 Introduction Each year, about 76 million cases of foodborne illness occur in the United States, according to U.S. […]
Brynn Galindo of KGET Reported – Health Department identifies E. coli source Bakersfield’s recent E. coli began at a backyard waterslide, the health department has announced. Health Director Dr. B.A. Jinadu emphasized there is no continuing danger to anyone who has not yet become sick. “After a thorough investigation the Department of Public Health has […]
Barbara Kowalcyk (former client and friend), the former president of Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.), a national grassroots organization dedicated to preventing foodborne illness, was interviewed by the Daily Record. She recently co-founded a new nonprofit, the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI). Kowalcyk and her husband, Michael, came to S.T.O.P. in late […]
Keith Roysdon of the Muncie, Indiana Star Press and I talked candidly about food safety last week. Here is part of the story: Companies, government must do more to increase food safety, expert says Attorney and food safety activist William Marler [of Marler Clark in Seattle Washington] uses an alarming comparison when urging people not […]
According to a Kansas newspaper – May is “Beef Month.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 73,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7 occur annually in the United States. Every year, 2,100 Americans are hospitalized, and 61 people die as a direct result of E. coli O157:H7 infections and its complications. A […]
From 1993 to 2002, most of the E. coli cases we did were from tainted hamburger. Since 2002, most of the E. coli case have bee linked to spinach and lettuce. Hopefully, the below reports are not a trend back in the wrong direction. Kalamazoo company recalls 129,000 pounds of beef – two sickened Davis […]
The meat company linked to an E. coli outbreak in the Twin Cities Minnesota is recalling 117,500 pounds of beef shipped to eight states, including Michigan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Health officials have said it appears that tainted ground beef from Lunds or Byerly’s stores sickened seven people, including three who had to […]