Food litigator William Marler discusses the 2006 spinach E. coli outbreak in this article, which provides an overview of the issues that plaintiffs’ lawyers should consider when they represent clients allegedly sickened by contaminated fresh produce. Among the issues flagged are (i) which entities are liable under a strict products liability scheme; (ii) what effect insurance and indemnity agreements will have on “the all-important questions of who is going to pay”; and (iii) whether the industry’s or individual corporation’s knowledge of the risk gives rise to the availability of punitive damages. The article concludes with a brief consideration of how the industry is regulated and why foodborne pathogens continue to sicken consumers. Marler argues that “the most expedient step in preventing another deadly foodborne illness outbreak like the 2006 Dole spinach outbreak is to push for greater corporate responsibility regarding the oversight of food producers. The lives of American consumers depend…
Category Archives Legal Literature
Roll International Corp. Senior Counsel and former Agricultural Law Professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, Michael Roberts discusses how disputes over the use of synthetic hormones in animal husbandry and food produced from genetically modified organisms are handled from the perspective of international trade law and international agreements addressing health, safety and environmental issues. Thus, he sets the stage to speculate how international disputes over cloned animals and nanotechnologies used in the human food chain may be addressed in the future. Among the legal issues the author sees arising from cloning and nanotechnology are (i) what international institutions and instruments will regulate these emerging technologies; (ii) whether religious, scientific, moral, and ethical concerns implicated in these technologies will change the international regulations pertaining to food safety and labeling, (iii) what role private standard-setting will take in the international regulation of cloning and nanotechnology, and (iv) how private…
