The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released an executive report summarizing the data collected by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) since 1996. Implemented by FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NARMS tracks antibiotic resistance in foodborne bacteria, focusing on antibiotics “that are considered important to human health as well as multidrug resistance [MDR]” to three or more antibiotic classes. According to an August 11, 2014, news release, FDA identified “positive and negative trends in antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from humans, retail meats and food animals.” For non-typhoidal Salmonella, which showed no resistance in 85 percent of samples isolated from humans, the report found that “MDR among humans, slaughtered chicken and slaughtered swine was the lowest [in 2011] since testing began,” though “MDR Salmonella from retail poultry meats generally increased.” NARMS also concluded that “erythromycin resistance in Campylobacter jejuni…
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While a number of jurors were dismissed because a two-month trial would create hardships for them, a 12-member jury and six alternates were selected on July 31, 2014, and opening statements began the next day in the criminal prosecution of former Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) owner Stewart Parnell, his brother Michael Parnell and the company’s quality control manager Mary Wilkerson. United States v. Parnell, 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga.). Earlier in the week, the court denied Wilkerson’s motion to dismiss or alternatively for a continuance and severance and to compel meaningful discovery. She claimed that the government’s discovery disclosures “were not accompanied by easily searchable databases” and that she was not timely provided a password to access one of two discovery disclosures. The court had apparently considered some of these issues previously and found that “Wilkerson has not demonstrated any changed circumstances that would require the Court to reconsider its referenced…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has denied the May 2011 petition filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) seeking an interpretive rule declaring certain antibiotic-resistant (ABR) strains of Salmonella to be adulterants when found in raw ground meat and raw ground poultry. Additional information about the petition appears in Issue 396 of this Update. CSPI also asked the agency “to ensure adequate sampling and testing for these pathogens and to remove contaminated ground meat and ground poultry products from the human food supply.” FSIS essentially found insufficient data to distinguish ABR Salmonella strains from other Salmonella strains that are susceptible to antibiotics and thus stated that additional data on the characteristics of ABR Salmonella are needed to determine whether the strains identified in the petition “could qualify as adulterants under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced a final rule amending poultry slaughter regulations and establishing a new poultry inspection system (NPIS) for young chicken and turkey slaughter establishments. Part of USDA’s response to a presidential executive order (E.O. 13563) asking agencies to review and improve existing regulations, the final rule aims to “facilitate pathogen reduction in poultry products, improve the effectiveness of poultry slaughter inspection, make better use of the Agency’s resources, and remove unnecessary regulatory obstacles to innovation.” Optional for young chicken and turkey establishments, which can choose to retain their current inspection system, NPIS will not replace the Streamlined Inspection System (SIS), the New Line Speed Inspection System (NELS) or the New Turkey Inspection System (NTIS), as was originally proposed. FSIS has emphasized, however, that NPIS will allow inspectors “to perform more offline inspection activities that are more effective in ensuring…
A federal court in Georgia has delayed until July 28, 2014, the criminal proceedings against Stewart Parnell, former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, which was implicated in a 2008-2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and led to at least nine deaths. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga., order entered July 11, 2014). The defendants, including former vice president of sales Michael Parnell and former quality assurance manager Mary Wilkerson, had argued that they did not have time to review some 100,000 documents produced by the prosecution just days before the original July 14 trial date. The court refused to dismiss the 76-count felony indictment as an alternative remedy. Meanwhile, the court is also considering whether a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official should be allowed to testify during the trial, indicating that it would conduct a Daubert hearing to determine whether the testimony of CDC…
A federal court in Georgia has entered a number of orders in criminal proceedings, expected to go to trial July 14, 2014, against the former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, implicated in a 2008-2009 nationwide Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and led to at least nine deaths; among the orders was one denying the prosecution’s request for a psychiatric examination of Stewart Parnell. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered July 10, 2014). Details about the criminal indictment appear in Issue 472 of this Update. While Parnell’s expert, whose testimony as to the defendant’s purported ADHD condition has been excluded, described Parnell as “fidgety, restless, excitable,” the court apparently found that this testimony did not otherwise indicate that Parnell would be unable to focus at trial. “Even if Stewart Parnell has an attention deficit disorder, Dr. Conley testified he is…
Following a hearing on the admissibility of expert testimony proffered as to Stewart Parnell’s ability to form the intent to commit alleged crimes arising from a national Salmonella outbreak linked to the Peanut Corp. of America, the company he formerly owned, a federal court in Georgia has excluded the expert, finding his testimony unhelpful and lacking a link to the criminal allegations. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered June 24, 2014). Details about the criminal charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. Clinical psychologist Joseph Conley would have testified that Parnell has an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder condition that was so severe he likely never read, nor understood the significance of, many of the emails on which the government’s case relies. According to the court, “Dr. Conley’s testimony is a ‘diminished capacity defense’ designed to show that Parnell did not…
The European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA’s) Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) has issued a scientific opinion on the risk posed by Salmonella and norovirus in fresh and frozen berries. According to BIOHAZ, which reviewed the limited data pertaining to the prevalence of these foodborne pathogens in berries, the risk factors for contamination are likely to include environmental conditions, contact with animal reservoirs and insufficiently treated compost, the use of contaminated water for irrigation or chemical applications, and cross-contamination by harvesters, food handlers or equipment. To mitigate these risks, BIOHAZ urges primary producers to implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems as well as Good Agricultural Practices, Good Hygiene Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). More specifically, the scientific opinion identifies Norovirus in frozen raspberries and strawberries as “an emerging public health risk,” stressing the need for additional data to develop microbiological criteria for improved control of norovirus in…
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) have introduced the Pathogens Reduction and Testing Reform Act, which would require the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue food recalls for meat contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as Salmonella. Citing better protections for consumers and past deference to voluntary recalls as support for their bill, the lawmakers argue in a prepared statement that “USDA has failed to recall meat contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens because they do not believe they have the legal authority to do so. This bill would ensure there is no confusion.” The measure would require USDA to recall meat, poultry and egg products contaminated by illness-causing pathogens resistant to two or more classes of antibiotics commonly used to treat human illnesses. See The Washington Post, June 25, 2014. Issue 528
A federal court in Georgia presiding over the criminal case filed against the former owner of the Peanut Corp. of America, implicated in a nationwide Salmonella outbreak in 2009, has denied Stewart Parnell’s motion to seal an exhibit that the government intends to introduce as Rule 404(b) evidence— that evidence pertaining to crimes, wrongs or other acts. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., order entered June 13, 2014). Details about the criminal charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. Parnell claimed that the evidence, an email, is “highly prejudicial” and would taint the jury pool. The government argued that “the exhibit is a judicial document subject to the common law right of access.” The court agreed with the government, because the document was discovery material that had been filed in connection with Parnell’s motion in limine, seeking to keep it from being…
