First Lawsuits Filed in Latest E. Coli Outbreaks Involving Ground Beef

Plaintiffs’ lawyer William Marler has reportedly begun filing lawsuits on behalf of families allegedly sickened in an E. coli outbreak linked to fresh ground beef processed by Fairbank Farms, which has recalled nearly 546,000 pounds of the product, mostly from retail outlets on the Atlantic coast and in the Northeast. According to news sources, two deaths and 28 illnesses may be linked to the outbreak. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service identified the recalled products on its Web site; they were sold under the labels of Trader Joe’s, Price Chopper, Lancaster and Wild Harvest, Shaw’s, and Giant food stores.

The Ashville, New York-based company has previously recalled ground beef products on two occasions, once for possible E. coli contamination and most recently for contamination with pieces of plastic. The November 2009 recall reportedly involves ground beef produced between September 14 and 16 and was directed to distribution centers in eight states, although the company acknowledged that some customers may have shipped the product to other states. See FSIS News Release, November 1, 2009; Food Poison Journal, Reuters. MSNBC.com, CNNMoney.com, The Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2009.