30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, a Seattle attorney still fights for food safety

Thirty years after the deadly Jack in the Box outbreak, journalist Elaine Porterfield reflects on covering the story and asks Bill Marler—once called a "blood-sucking ambulance chaser," now honored by the food industry for fighting to improve safety—what he still won't eat. While he'll "occasionally order" a well-done hamburger now that contamination odds have dropped dramatically, his permanent "no way" list includes unpasteurized milk or juice, raw sprouts, meat that isn't well-done, bagged salads, raw eggs, and raw oysters. On sprouts: "The warm, humid conditions needed to grow sprouts are also ideal for germs to grow," with dangerous bacteria harboring in their seeds. On bagged salads: "Convenience is great, but sometimes I think it isn't worth the risk"—contamination rises with processing degree, and packaged vegetables are "highly processed and highly risky if eaten raw." On raw oysters: their incidence of foodborne illness "seems to be increasing, possibly due to warming waters. As filter feeders, oysters can easily pick up dangerous microbes. It's simply not worth the risk." His first post-Jack in the Box case was Odwalla's 1996 unpasteurized apple juice outbreak that killed a 16-month-old girl and sickened at least 70. CDC data shows unpasteurized milk caused 75 outbreaks between 2013-2018.