A Safer Food Supply

Kate Halloran interviews Bill Marler about his specialized practice, revealing that from the 1990s to early 2000s, "most of our work involved E. coli cases linked to hamburger; now that is nearly zero" due to positive changes in testing and interventions. His frustration with litigation's pace led him to advocacy work, including the multiyear effort behind the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act where clients testified before Congress. Marler explains why imports pose growing challenges—not because they're inherently dangerous, but increased volume means more cases where "you can't necessarily sue a supplier or manufacturer in China." He highlights absurd regulatory gaps: FDA must disclose full distribution chains during recalls while USDA doesn't; salmonella-contaminated chicken isn't adulterated until proven to cause illness, unlike FDA-regulated foods. On the March 2017 soy nut butter recall that sickened an 11-year-old who lost his large intestine and is learning to walk again: "We're still finding it for sale online and in grocery stores." The biggest misconceptions? Incubation periods—people blame the last meal when E. coli takes 3-4 days—and severity. "I'm representing a 19-year-old girl...she ate chicken salad that was tainted with E. coli. She spent four months in the hospital, had her large intestine removed, suffered multiple seizures, and her kidneys failed." He turns away 90% of cases because causation is unclear.