A woman has filed a lawsuit alleging she was hospitalized after eating Salmonella-contaminated eggs from Rose Acre Farms Inc. Roberts v. Rose Acre Farms, Inc., No. 18-61082 (S.D. Fla., filed May 14, 2018). The plaintiff alleges that she purchased eggs packaged by Coburn Farms, a Sav-A-Lot Food Stores brand, and became ill enough to require two hospitalizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked Rose Acre Farms eggs to a nine-state outbreak of Salmonella infections. Claiming strict product liability, breach of warranty, negligence and negligence per se, the plaintiff seeks damages and attorney’s fees.
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The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has announced new food safety recommendations for managing the risk of arsenic in rice and efforts to reduce pathogens in meat and poultry products. Following a request to review issues related to arsenic in rice, GAO determined that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not updated its risk assessment of the human health effects in two years and was unable to provide a timeline for either an update or final draft guidance. GAO has recommended that FDA develop such timelines, work with other agencies to coordinate risk assessments and work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop methods to detect contaminants in food. GAO also reviewed USDA’s approach to reduction of pathogens in meat and poultry, finding the agency has failed to develop standards for some products—including turkey breasts and pork chops—and has not fully documented its process for deciding…
A New Jersey woman has filed a lawsuit alleging Panera Bread Co. sold her salad greens contaminated with E. coli, causing her to develop hemolytic uremic syndrome after she consumed the meal. Fraser v. Freshway Foods, Inc., No. 18-7734 (D.N.J., filed April 16, 2018). Filed against Panera and its lettuce supplier Freshway Foods Inc., the complaint asserts that Panera sold contaminated lettuce sourced from Yuma, Arizona, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has linked to an E. coli outbreak. Alleging the lettuce was “defective and unreasonably dangerous” in violation of the New Jersey Products Liability Act, the plaintiff seeks damages for physical and mental pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, medical expenses and attorney’s fees.
Ruling that the jury instructions were misleading, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has reversed a jury verdict finding for a seafood restaurant in a lawsuit involving allegations of foodborne illness. Rhodes v. Lazy Flamingo 2 Inc., No. 17-11338 (M.D. Fla., entered March 29, 2018). The plaintiffs alleged negligence per se after one ate Lazy Flamingo's oysters, which were contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus and caused an illness requiring five days of hospitalization. A Florida regulation requires foodservice establishments serving raw oysters to display a health-risk warning on menus or table placards; the jury was instructed that it could consider the text of the regulation as well as a Florida foodservice industry bulletin indicating the warning “may be on menus, table placards, or elsewhere in plain view of all customers.” The appeals court found no evidence that the bulletin offered a "reasonable interpretation” of the regulation, reversed the verdict…
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has denied a petition from the National Chicken Council seeking to waive the line speed limit of 140 birds per minute in processing plants. FSIS told the council that processors of young chicken are permitted to run at higher speeds if they were one of 20 participants in a New Poultry Inspection System pilot study operating under a Salmonella Initiative Program (SIP) waiver. During the pilot program, participants demonstrated that they could maintain process control at line speeds up to 175 birds per minute and were capable of "consistently producing safe, wholesome and unadulterated product" and "meeting pathogen reduction and other performance standards.” The agency's letter indicated that it would consider granting additional SIP waivers but would not grant waivers that would allow processors to operate without maximum line speeds.
A website that allows individuals to report food poisoning incidents may help health officials identify outbreaks of foodborne illness, according to NPR. Developed by Patrick Quade, iwaspoisoned.com has reportedly handled more than 75,000 user posts from 46 states and 90 countries since its launch. After a cluster of reports, the website notifies local health officials; the site has correctly identified the source of four outbreaks before health officials did. Officials reportedly praise the site’s ability to identify norovirus outbreaks, which are often underreported. Officials have previously used Yelp to curate reports of foodborne illness.
A father has filed a lawsuit alleging that eating Dole Food Co.'s ready-to-eat salad greens caused his son to develop Listeria meningitis, leaving the son with long-term impairment of motor, cognitive and communication skills. Robinson v. Dole Food Co., No. 17-13644 (E.D. Mich., filed November 8, 2017). The complaint alleges that the son was served packaged salads at his group-care facility and developed meningitis, which the Centers for Disease Control and the Michigan Department of Community Health apparently concluded was caused by the same strain of Listeria that infected 30 people in a 2015-2016 outbreak linked to Dole salad greens. The complaint further alleges that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted an inspection of Dole’s Springfield, Illinois, facility where the bagged salads were produced and concluded that the facility violated a number of food-safety rules, including failing to test for Listeria on food contact surfaces and failing to notify FDA…
Scotland’s Crown Office reportedly will not prosecute Errington Cheese for the death of a three-year-old linked to an outbreak of E. coli in 2016. A March 2017 Health Protection Scotland report apparently found Errington’s unpasteurized Dunsyre Blue cheese to be the “likely” source of the outbreak and the cause of the child’s death. The Crown Office reportedly concluded that the child died from complications of an E. coli infection, but it decided not to pursue criminal action. After the outbreak, a local council government banned the sale of some of Errington’s artisanal sheep’s-milk cheese, and the company reportedly plans to challenge the ban in early 2018.
A New Jersey man has filed a lawsuit against a produce supplier for its role in a Salmonella Kiambu outbreak in 12 states linked to Mexican papayas that has sickened 47 people and reportedly caused one death. Colon v. Grande Produce, No. 17-5458 (D.N.J., filed July 26, 2017). The plaintiff alleges that he fell ill in June 2017 after consuming a papaya imported by Grande Produce and was later diagnosed with Salmonella-induced illness. Claiming strict product liability, negligence and breach of warranties, the plaintiff seeks damages and attorney’s fees. On July 26, Grande Produce announced it had issued a limited recall of Caribeña Maradol papayas distributed between July 10- 19, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers to avoid all Mexican Maradol papayas regardless of the source. An FDA recall notice stated, “The FDA notes that there are…
Two consumers have filed lawsuits alleging they contracted norovirus after eating at one of Chipotle Mexican Grill’s locations. Hogan v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, No. 109599 (Va. Cir. Ct., Loudoun Cty., filed July 26, 2017); Moore v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, No. 109660 (Va. Cir. Ct., Loudoun Cty., filed July 26, 2017). Both complaints allege negligence and breach of implied warranties, and each plaintiff seeks $74,000 in damages and attorney’s fees. The Loudoun County Health Department has identified more than 135 people who became ill after eating at Chipotle’s Sterling, Virginia, restaurant between July 13-16, 2017, and confirmed that two people tested positive for the same strain of norovirus. On July 19, federal prosecutors served Chipotle with a new subpoena seeking details about the outbreak. In 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California began a criminal investigation into a series of norovirus, E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks traced…
