The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a challenge to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules requiring California almonds sold domestically to be treated with heat or chemicals to prevent the spread of Salmonella. Koretoff v. Vilsack, No. 12-5075 (D.C. Cir., decided February 22, 2013). According to the court, the almond producers who mounted the challenge had waived their claims “by failing to raise them during the rulemaking process.” They had contended that the USDA secretary exceeded his authority in requiring the treatment of all almonds “irrespective of whether they are contaminated” and that the secretary failed to determine that the treatment rule was “the only practical means of advancing the interests of the producers.” Finding no error in the lower court’s disposition, the court affirmed its grant of summary judgment for the secretary.
Tag Archives salmonella
In a 76-count indictment, four individuals formerly associated with the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), which was the source of a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009, have been charged with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice and other counts involving the distribution of adulterated or misbranded food. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (M.D. Ga., filed February 15, 2013). A fifth individual employed by PCA has entered a guilty plea to charges filed against him. United States v. Kilgore, No. 13-7 (M.D. Ga., filed February 11, 2013). The outbreak was traced to the Blakely, Georgia, plant owned by defendant Stewart Parnell. The other defendants are Michael Parnell, who was employed as a food broker on behalf of PCA, Samuel Lightsey, the Blakely plant’s operations manager from July 2008 through February 2009, and Mary Wilkerson, who worked in a number of positions from April 2002 through February 2009, including as…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a report titled “Attribution of Foodborne Illness, Hospitalizations, and Deaths to Food Commodities by using Outbreak Data, United States, 1998-2008,” based on data involving 17 food categories and the roughly 48 million people who “get sick from food eaten in the United States” each year. While produce is evidently responsible for more food-borne illness (46 percent) than other food categories, meat and poultry apparently cause more death (29 percent) and dairy “accounted for the most hospitalizations” (16 percent). CDC’s estimates are based on the 4,589 foodborne disease outbreaks reported over an 11-year span. The report cautions that the findings should not cause people to “avoid certain categories of food,” because many food-borne bacteria can be killed by cooking to proper temperatures and a varied diet is important to a healthy lifestyle. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Food…
A federal court in Minnesota has granted the motion for summary judgment filed by a company whose insurance carrier claimed it was not required to cover the company’s settlement of claims arising from a recall of instant oatmeal purportedly contaminated with instant milk produced at a facility where the Food and Drug Administration “detected insanitary conditions and salmonella.” The Netherlands Ins. Co. v. Main St. Ingredients, LLC, No. 11-533 (D. Minn., decided January 8, 2013). The company had supplied the instant milk to Malt-o-Meal which used it to make instant oatmeal. After the instant milk and downstream products such as the oatmeal were recalled, Malt-o-Meal sued both the supplier and the company that had produced the instant milk. While none of the supplier’s instant milk was found to contain Salmonella, the case ultimately settled for $1.4 million. The insurance company sued the supplier, Main Street Ingredients, for a declaration that…
A federal court in New Mexico has approved a consent decree of permanent injunction between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Sunland, Inc., which owns a facility where peanut butter products purportedly tainted with Salmonella were produced. United States v. Sunland, Inc., No. 12-1312 (D.N.M., filed December 21, 2012). The outbreak affected “at least 35 people from 19 states,” eight of whom “were hospitalized as a result of their infection.” While the company neither admits nor denies FDA’s allegations, it agreed to take a number of actions to correct food-handling practices “that likely resulted in cross-contamination between raw peanuts and peanuts that had been roasted or brined.” The company must “develop and implement sanitation control programs; provide FDA the opportunity to inspect the facilities to assure Sunland’s compliance with the consent decree, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and applicable regulations; and receive written authorization from FDA to resume…
Consumer Reports magazine has allegedly identified bacterial contamination as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria and veterinary drug residues in pork chop and ground-pork samples purchased from U.S. grocery stores. According to an analysis in the January 2013 edition of the magazine, 69 percent of the 198 pork samples in question purportedly contained Yersinia enterocolitica; 11 percent contained Enterococcus; and 3 to 7 percent contained Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, or Listeria monocytogenes. In addition, the magazine reported that 13 of 14 Staphylococcus samples isolated from pork were resistant to antimicrobials, as were six of eight Salmonella samples, 12 of 19 Enterococcus samples, and 121 of 132 Yersinia samples. Consumer Reports has also claimed that approximately one-fifth of 240 pork products analyzed in a separate test “harbored low levels of the drug ractopamine,” a growth promoter used in U.S. pork production but banned in the European Union, China and Taiwan. Consumers Union, the policy…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has suspended operations at nut and seed spread manufacturer Sunland Inc.’s New Mexico plant after investigators reportedly discovered Salmonella-tainted peanut butter linked to an outbreak that has allegedly sickened 41 people in 20 states this year. According to FDA, “the fact that peanut butter made by the company has been linked to an outbreak . . . coupled with Sunland’s history of violations led [the agency] to make the decision to suspend the company’s registration.” In a November 26, 2012, letter to Sunland’s president, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said evidence the agency collected in response to the outbreak demonstrated that “[n]ut butter and nut products manufactured, processed, packed, and held by your facility are contaminated with salmonella, or are at risk for contamination with salmonella, based on the conditions in your facility. Your facility’s testing records over the past 3 years include multiple positive…
Golden Eagle Insurance Corp. has filed a complaint for declaratory relief against its insured Moon Marine (U.S.A.) Corp., requesting that the umbrella policy it issued to the insured be rescinded because Moon Marine allegedly concealed material facts when it obtained the policy. Golden Eagle Ins. Corp. v. Moon Marine (U.S.A.) Corp., No. 12-5438 (N.D. Cal., filed October 22, 2012). According to the complaint, Moon Marine knew that its imported yellowfin tuna (scrape) was linked to a nationwide Salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 400 individuals and had, in fact, recalled the product, when the $2-million excess insurance policy was obtained. The plaintiffs allege that Moon Marine failed to inform the insurance carrier’s underwriter that the fish importer faced “obvious liability exposure for bodily injury claims from the nationwide salmonella outbreak that had been linked to Moon Marines’ importation of Scrape.” The first lawsuit was actually filed two days before the plaintiffs quoted and bound…
A company whose deli meat products were allegedly contaminated by the inclusion of the Salmonella-tainted red and black pepper sold to it by a supplier has sued the supplier’s insurance company to recover damages resulting from the products’ recall. Daniele Int’l, Inc. v. Penn-Star Ins. Co., No. 12-709 (D.R.I., filed October 9, 2012). According to the plaintiff, which was awarded a default judgment of $33.18 million in a suit against the supplier in September 2012, the defendant’s insurance policies extend to the supplier’s liability for the plaintiff’s losses and damages. The plaintiff also contends that the insurance carrier was notified about the underlying litigation.
A federal court in Rhode Island has reportedly agreed to enter a default judgment of $33 million against a spice company purportedly involved in a 2010 Salmonella outbreak affecting a salami product that sickened more than 250 people in 44 states. Daniele Int’l, Inc. v. Wholesome Spice & Seasonings, Inc., No. 10-155 (D.R.I., decided September 17, 2012). The court granted the request for default judgment filed by meat producer Daniele International, which was forced to recall in excess of 1.2 million pounds of meat. Health officials traced the contamination to the pepper supplied by the defendant, a company that was reportedly dissolved in April 2012. According to a news source, Daniele’s counsel is uncertain whether they will be able to collect the judgment. See The Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2012.
