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Food Poisoning Law Blog

• Officials Look For Source of Shigellosis Cases
  

  Health officials in Franklin County, Ohio, are attempting to find the cause of 97 reported cases of shigellosis. Shigellosis is an intestinal infection of the Shigella bacteria, causing diarrhea, fever, and cramping, and is most common in toddlers. The source of the disease can often be traced back to daycare centers, restaurants, and swimming pools that do not contain chlorine.

  According to 10TV, Franklin County only reported 17 cases of shigellosis in 2007, but nearly 100 cases have been reported in the past few weeks. The source of disease has not yet been identified by health officials, but they have notified area daycares and health institutions to increase the awareness of the disease.

  If the source of the disease is found to be a restaurant or daycare center, affected individuals may be entitled to compensation due to the liability held by those institutions. To contact our law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free), email Fred Pritzker or submit our firm's free E. coli case consultation form.

• FSIS Will Begin Listing Retail Stores Involved in Recalls
  

  Starting next month, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) will begin listing retail establishments that have received recalled products.  In the past, only information relating to the establishment that recalled the affected product was released, including the reason for recall, a product description, identifying product codes, and information on how to contact the establishment.  Under the new policy, FSIS will not only list the establishment that recalls the product, but also the retail stores that receive meat and poultry products involved in Class I recalls.   This is information the we called on the FSIS to list with Class I recall announcements.
  

  Class I recalls pose the most serious threat to public health, and the affected products have a reasonable probability of causing serious danger to those with weak immune systems.  The USDA is implementing this new policy so that consumers have the best information available to determine if they have recalled products in their home.  

  According to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer:

  "The identity of retail stores with recalled meat and poultry from their suppliers has always been a missing piece of information for the public during a recall. People want to know if they need to be on the lookout for recalled meat and poultry from their local store and by providing lists of retail outlets during recalls, USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service will improve public health protection by better informing consumers."

  FSIS hopes to release lists of the retail stores within 3-10 days after issuing a recall.  The list will be posted on the FSIS Web site (www.fsis.usda.gov) and will include retail stores such as supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, meat markets, wholesale clubs, and supercenters.  However, FSIS has chosen not to identify distribution centers, institutions, and restaurants due to the preparation of food for immediate consumption that does not contain identifiable packaging. We disagree with this because people who have eaten at restaurants where recalled meat and poultry has been served should know that they need to watch for symptoms of foodborne illness.
  

• Peppers May Also be Responsible for Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak
  

  The number of confirmed cases of Salmonella Saintpaul has again risen, bringing the total to 1090. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) people in 42 states and the District of Columbia have been sickened in the outbreak:

  Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (14), Arizona (49), California (9), Colorado (15), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (25), Idaho (5), Illinois (104), Indiana (16), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (26), Michigan (19), Minnesota (19), Mississippi (2), Missouri (15), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (11), New Mexico (99), New York (30), North Carolina (14), Ohio (8), Oklahoma (24), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (12), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (8), Texas (408), Utah (2), Virginia (31), Vermont (2), Washington (17), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (11), and the District of Columbia (1).

  Health officials have had a difficult time pinpointing the source of this outbreak. The CDC has acknowledged some of these challenges, stating:

  “The investigation is complex and difficult. One difficult aspect is that people often have difficulty remembering exactly what foods they ate, and remembering specific ingredients in those foods is even more difficult. Although laboratory testing of foods might help identify the source, perishable foods that were consumed by ill persons are often not available to test. When food items are mixed together and consumed in the same dish, all the items may be statistically linked to illness. In that case, determining by statistical means which item caused the illness can be difficult or impossible. Tracing suspect produce items back to processors and growers is an integral part of the effort to identify a single source and a possible means of contamination.”

  

  Health officials first reported that tomatoes were the source of the outbreak, but the duration of the outbreak and further interviews with patients suggested that peppers may have also made people sick. According to the CDC:

  “Illnesses were linked to an item containing fresh jalapeño peppers and no other of the suspect items. The accumulated data from all investigations indicate that jalapeño peppers caused some illnesses but that they do not explain all illnesses. Raw tomatoes, fresh serrano peppers, and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation. Investigators from many agencies are collaborating to track the source of the implicated peppers and other produce items.”

  The CDC advises that until they are certain that the contaminated items are off the market, consumers, especially those at heightened risk for illness, should avoid eating uncooked jalapeño, and Serrano peppers, as well as raw tomatoes not on the Food and Drug Administration’s Safe List.

• Thai Basil Recall Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination
  

  LUCKY GREEN TRADING, INC. of Garden Grove, California has recalled Thai Basil because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

  The recall was as the result of a random testing by the FDA which revealed that the finished products contained the Salmonella . The company has suspended distribution and importation of the product as FDA and the company continues their investigation.

  The recalled Thai Basil was distributed through retail stores and direct delivery to customers in Southern California, Arizona , and Nevada on June 30, 2008.

  The product was shipped in 14 LB cardboard cartons with 12 individual packages weighing approx.1.2 LB each in clear, unmarked, plastic bags. The exterior cartons were labeled "16 DE SEPTIEMBRE S/N SANTA ROSA TAPACHULA NAYARIT, C.P. 63731" "Thai Basil" and also had an attached sticker with Airway Bill #027 1947 0861.

  No illnesses have been reported to date.

• Samolux Smoked Salmon Nova Lox Recall Due to Possible Listeria Contamination
  

  Salmolux Inc. of Federal Way, Washington has recalled lot # 01418 of its Wild Alaskan Smoked Salmon Nova Lox sold in 3 ounce packages due to the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection ca