Maine E coli Victim Hires Food Safety Lawyers
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys has been retained to represent the family of a 5-year-old-year from Auburn, Maine who was hospitalized for three weeks with E. coli HUS as a result of eating ground beef tainted with E. coli O157:H7.
The boy’s illness has been affirmatively linked to the Fairbank Farms outbreak, which resulted in the recall of more than half a million pounds of ground beef products — mostly in the Northeast — because of potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) 26 persons in eight states, including four in Maine, have fallen victim to the outbreak. Nineteen were hospitalized and 5 developed HUS E. coli, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States.
According to a November 13, 2009 story in The New York Times, Fairbank Farms succumbed to pressure from its beef suppliers and inexplicably stopped testing all of its ground beef ingredients. According to the company, those procedures are now being re-evaluated. Unfortunately, that move comes too late for our client, as well as for the two people who have died in this outbreak and the people who have been sickened.
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has introduced legislation that puts the price on mandatory testing of ground beef ingredients at one penny per pound. Testing won’t eradicate E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef in the U.S., but our law firm is actively supporting this move and the more sweeping food safety reform bill already passed by the House, because they could prevent outbreaks like this one and could help advance food safety as a more vital protocol in the meat industry.
The needless suffering of the people sickened in this outbreak only serves to underscore the need for more stringent testing and all it would cost is a penny per pound.
To contact Pritzker Olsen law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online form for a free consultation. We are accepting additional cases from the current outbreak and are involved in practically every major outbreak of foodborne illness in the United States as a representative for victims. Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of food poisoning litigation and we have collected millions of dollars over the years for E. coli victims.
CDC Update on Ground Beef E coli Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued its final update on the Fairbank Farms ground beef E. coli outbreak, which has killed two people and sicked two dozen others in eight states. The report doesn’t mean the outbreak is over because health officials are still concerned that some ground beef associated with the E. coli HUS outbreak is still in home freezers.
The report says that a number of the illnesses appear to be associated with products from the October 31 recall of 545,699 pounds of ground beef and related products from Fairbank Farms, which has a grinding plant in Ashville, New York.
Two samples from opened packages of ground beef recovered from a patient’s homes were tested by the Massachusetts and Connecticut Departments of Health and yielded E. coli O157:H7 isolates that matched the patient isolates by DNA analysis.
The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California (1), Connecticut (6), Massachusetts (8), Maryland (1), Maine (4), New Hampshire (4), New York (1), and Vermont (1). Of these, the genetic associations of 24 human isolates and both of the product isolates have been confirmed by an advanced secondary DNA test; secondary tests are pending on others and the number of people considered to be part of the outbreak could increase.
The CDC’s advice to consumers is to check your refrigerators and freezers for any beef products made by this firm purchased on or after September 15, 2009. The packages were sold at various retail chains, mostly as fresh ground beef products, bearing the USDA establishment number “EST 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection with production date codes of 091409, 091509 and 091609.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially lethal human pathogen that emits a powerful toxin causing extremely painful diarrhea, often bloody. In this outbreak, 19 victims have been hospitalized and five have developed E. coli HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening condition that shuts down a person’s kidneys, can result in hemorrhaging, strokes, E. coli in the brain, heart problems, diabetes and other health problems.
If you or a loved one has become sick after eating meat associated with this outbreak, see a physician immediately. For legal information, contact national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys. We are in contact with victims of the outbreak and currently represent E. coli HUS victims. Few other law firms in the country practice as extensively as we do in the area of foodborne illness and we have collected tens of millions of dollars for victims.
We have the experience and resources it takes to help you and we will provide a free case consultation if you contact our firm at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our contact and information form.
Ground Beef E. coli Testing Law Would List Habitual Defenders on Public Web Site
So far this year, U.S. consumers have been dealt at least one dozen ground beef outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7, including the current Fairbank Farms ground beef E. coli outbreak that is still a threat to make people gravely ill.
Some of the more than 500,000 pounds of recalled E. coli ground beef related to this multi-state outbreak is believed to still be lurking in the home freezers of people unaware of the danger. National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys has been in contact with E. coli HUS victims of this outbreak and is accepting cases. If you or a loved one has been affected this outbreak, which already has killed two people, contact an E. coli lawyer at 1-888-377-8900 or complete one of our online contact and information forms.
The crush of hamburger E. coli outbreaks this year and last year has caught the attention of many in Washington, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, who has introduced a law intended to end a dangerous practice in the meat industry that was exposed last month by a story in the New York Times. As a law firm dedicated to the prevention of all foodborne illness, we applaud her effort.
During a 2008 industry-wide sampling of all ground beef produced, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that 0.32 percent of ground beef was contaminated with E. coli - that’s nearly 1 in every 300 samples.
Senator Gillibrand’s proposed E. coli Eradication Act would require meat plants that produce the cuts and trimmings that make ground beef to test their products regularly. And when the ingredients arrive at a grinding plant, they would be tested again before all the components are ground together. Currently, according to the Times story, it’s typical for grinding facilities to have unwritten agreements with slaughterhouses NOT to test the incoming beef cuts. That way, contaminated meat can’t be traced to the supplier if E. coli is found in the finished ground beef.
For those facilities where source trim and grinding occurs at the same facility, the legislation requires one test of the source trim and another test of the final ground product.
Gillibrand’s legislation also calls for habitual violators to be listed on a public website. Any slaughterhouse or processing establishment that produces or distributes trim with positive E. coli test results for 3 consecutive days, or more than 10 times per year, will be deemed a habitual violator. The bill also establishes enforcement action against plants that fail to test or fail to notify the USDA of positive E. coli results.
Fairbank Ground Beef E coli Plant Didn’t Test Trim
The meat grinding company associated with a deadly ground beef E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 25 people in 10 states, killing two, is one that doesn’t test incoming shipments of trim for pathogens.
That’s from a new report by New York Times reporter Michael Moss, who first blew the whistle on this dangerous and prevalent practice earlier this fall in a blockbuster story that is still reverberating.
The Ashville, New York, hamburger grinding plant at the center of the current ground beef E. coli outbreak is Fairbank Farms, owned by AFA Foods. AFA’s retail customers have included Trader Joe’s, Giant, Shaw’s, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and many others. They are all dealing with the Fairbank ground beef E. coli recall of more than 500,000 pounds of meat produced September 14, 15, and 16. Consumers should look in their freezers for packages with those date codes and USDA establishment number EST 492 inside the mark of inspection.
Dr. David M. Theno, a retired food safety consultant, told The Times that he worked with AFA Foods’ predecessor company to devise new safety systems. He confirmed previous statements by AFA Foods officials that they started testing trim at their grinding facilities, but then stopped when slaughterhouses balked at selling them trim.
That industry practice, which companies like Costco are starting to buck, has crept into existence because slaughterhouses don’t want any “hot” beef trim (positive for E. coli) traced back to them, causing costly recalls of trim sent to other grinding plants. Surprisingly, this is all legal with the USDA.
Grinding plants like Fairbank repeatedly test the end product after it is ground, but if E. coli O157:H7 is present, they can’t trace it to a particular supplier. That’s because the grinders mix trim from many different suppliers into the same batch of hamburger to get the desired fat content.
Costco grinds its own hamburger and was a witness to unwritten agreements with slaughterhouses that grinding plants would be cut off from the supply chain if they were going to test trim for E. coli O157:H7 — which the USDA bans from ground beef but is not considered an adulterant if it is in trim or muscle meat cuts.
AFA Foods told The Times that it is re-evaluating its testing procedures. “In addition to (existing) controls, Fairbank is evaluating the addition of another firewall such as additional testing of incoming product,” the company said.
The story also said Trader Joe’s, which has 325 stores in 25 states, has stopped buying ground beef from Fairbank and will seek only to buy ground beef that is made from E. coli-tested trim.
Families affected by the Fairbank Farms ground beef E. coli outbreak have special legal rights because E. coli O157:H7 is an adulterant. The responsibility for allowing a banned pathogen into the food supply doesn’t stop with the meatpacking industry. If you have legal questions, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our online contact and information form.
We represent victims in practically all major outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 and have collected millions of dollars for food poisoning survivors and their families. E. coli infections are dangerous and lead to life-threatening E. coli HUS in more than five percent of cases. But these illnesses are preventable and part of our mission is to advocate for law changes and more inspections to keep people from getting sick and dying.
Hopefully the reporting of Michael Moss will lead to mandatory testing of beef trim at grinding plants.
3 E coli HUS Cases in Ground Beef E coli Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in its latest update on the ground beef E. Coli outbreak that three of the 16 victims who were hospitalized with matching strains of E. coli O157:H7 have developed E. coli HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The CDC report says 25 persons in 10 states have been diagnosed with the outbreak strain of E. coli and that the number could go up or down as microbiologists refine the investigation. Of all the victims, 64 percent are male and 44 percent are under age 18. The patients range in age from one to 84 years old. As reported earlier, two people have died. Of the 25 illnesses, the genetic associations of 22 human isolates and the contaminated ground beef have been confirmed by an advanced secondary DNA test; secondary tests are pending on others.
State and federal health officials continue to warn consumers to check their freezers for ground beef products made by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, New York. The Fairbank Farms meat was sold in mid-September in various retail grocery chain meat cases and more than half a million pounds was recalled by the USDA on Halloween over fears of E. coli O157:H7 . For a complete list of stores involved in the outbreak, click here.
Look for USDA establishment number EST 492 inside the USDA mark of inspection and the identifying package dates of 091409, 091509 and 091609.
Here is the latest compilation of victims and their home states: California (1), Connecticut (4), Massachusetts (8), Maryland (1), Maine (2), New Hampshire (4), New Jersey (1), New York (1), Pennsylvania (2), and Vermont (1).
Our national food safety law firm, Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, currently represents E. coli HUS victims and has years of experience in food poisoning litigation against meatpackers, food companies, corporate farms, grocery chains, restaurants and other purveyors of contaminated food. We have collected millions for victims’ families and our lawyers are sought after for their expertise by trade groups, for convention speaking, and by the media. An important part of our mission is to emphasize the importance of prevention.
This year alone there have been 11 food recalls related to E. coli contamination. With more awareness, more inspection and more diligence, these food poisoning outbreaks are preventable. To contact our firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our online contact and information form.
