Food Poisoning

Just think, you may have had food poisoning already—many mild cases are never diagnosed. Though perhaps if it is you or your spouse or elderly parent or child who is sick, you might not be so quick to call it a "mild" case.

FDA Nationwide Recall. Through tracebacks conducted as part of its ongoing investigation into the increase of Salmonella Enteritidis illnesses nationwide, FDA and the State of Minnesota identified Hillandale Farms in Iowa as a second potential source of contaminated shell eggs. Eggs affected by this latest recall are distributed under the following brand names: Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, and Sunny Meadow in 6-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons, 30-egg package, and 5-dozen cases. Loose eggs are packaged under the following brand names: Wholesome Farms and West Creek in 15 and 30-dozen tray packs. The loose eggs may also be repackaged by customers.

Do not eat recalled eggs or products containing recalled eggs.

"Since May 2010, CDC has identified a nationwide, four-fold increase in the number of SE isolates through PulseNet, the national subtyping network made up of state and local public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories. CDC received reports of approximately 200 SE cases every week..."

It is surprising how much contaminated food is ingested by the American public. Infectious organisms, viruses, bacterial pathogens, including enteric and aquatic bacteria, enteric viruses, enteric protozoa and other parasites enter the food supply; they can contaminate food at any point during its processing or production. Many foods which have been incorrectly handled, improperly cooked or inadequately stored are recalled but usually not until some poor victim—or a lot of them—have suffered from food poisoning.

The New York Times has said that the top ten food poisoning risks are leafy greens, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries. Poor handling practices, contaminated washing equipment, low temperature or no cooking can be some of the factors involved. Even the handling of contaminated pet food has been found to be the source of food poisoning. But sometimes ingestion does not involve eating. It has been proven that swimmers exposed to contaminated recreational waters are at risk of gastrointestinal illness.

The impact of food borne disease on children, the aging population and the immunocompromised can be life threatening. We must use the most effective surveillance system at the local, national and international levels to keep ahead of any potential problems.

Jim Vititoe wants you to be safe. You eat to live, not to get sick. And when contaminants of one kind or another injure you, Masry and Vititoe is there to help. When the FDA system fails, the marketplace is frequently the agent that punishes the produce industry; and Masry & Vititoe is willing and able to hold the responsible parties accountable when an individual is hurt.

If you were injured, you deserve compensation. Please call or email our firm to arrange a consultation.

Masry and Vititoe maintains a current US product recall page.

For decades, well known and accomplished personal injury lawyer Jim Vititoe has been a major force in US courts and abroad. Jim and Masry & Vititoe have represented thousands of individuals in personal injury cases including those against food companies whose contaminated products have caused serious injury and death. Masry and Vititoe is considered the nation’s foremost law firms representing victims of food borne illness and other personal injury cases.

References

• Top Ten Food Poisoning Risks. Parker-Pope, Tara, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/top-10-food-poisoning-risks
• Estimating the primary etiologic agents in recreational freshwaters impacted by human sources of faecal contamination.Soller JA, Bartrand T, Ashbolt NJ, Ravenscroft J, Wade TJ. Water Res. 2010 Jul 29.
• Microbial agents associated with waterborne diseases. Leclerc H, Schwartzbrod L, Dei-Cas E.. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2002;28(4):371-409.
• Human Salmonella Infections Linked to Contaminated Dry Dog and Cat Food, 2006-2008. Behravesh CB, Ferraro A, Deasy M 3rd, Dato V, Moll M, Sandt C, Rea NK, Rickert R, Marriott C, Warren K, Urdaneta V, Salehi E, Villamil E, Ayers T, Hoekstra RM, Austin JL, Ostroff S, Williams IT; and the Salmonella Schwarzengrund Outbreak Investigation Team. Pediatrics. 2010 Aug 9.
• Epidemiology of foodborne diseases: a worldwide review. Todd EC. World Health Stat Q. 1997;50(1-2):30-50.

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