Marler Clark clients traveled to DC to talk to Senators about their experiences with foodborne illness and urge the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act (S510).

Bill Marler calls for enforcement of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, under which manufacturers who knowingly distribute tainted food products are subject to criminal prosecution.

A lawsuit was filed in California on behalf of a woman who lost her life to a Salmonella infection contracted from pepper produced by Union International Foods.  There is currently a separate outbreak linked to red and black pepper in Daniele International salami meat products.

A woman severely sickened in a 2009 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef filed a lawsuit today against Ashville, NY-based Fairbank Reconstruction Corporation, doing business as Fairbank Farms Inc., which produced the tainted meat.  The lawsuit was filed in the Maine District Court by the plaintiff’s attorneys, Bill Marler of foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark, and Peter Felmley of the Portland firm Drummond, Woodsum, & MacMahon. 

A lawsuit was filed today against Daniele International Inc. in an ongoing nationwide outbreak of Salmonella linked to pepper salami.  The lawsuit also names Wholesome Spice and Mincing Overseas Trading Company, both of which have been linked to the salmonella-tainted pepper believed to be the source of the outbreak.  The lawsuit was filed by in Cook County on behalf of a Chicago man by Marler Clark, the Seattle-based food safety law firm, and by Gary Newland of Illinois firm Newland, Newland, & Newland.

CAMDENTON, MO: A second victim of the nationwide outbreak of Salmonella linked to pepper in salami meats has come forward to file a lawsuit against Daniele International Inc., which produced the recalled salami, and against Wholesome Spice, which supplied the tainted pepper.  The CDC reports that currently 203 are confirmed ill in 42 states, with the actual total likely much higher. 

Safe food attorney Bill Marler has called for the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to label meats that have undergone mechanical tenderization.  The controversial process has been linked to numerous outbreaks of the dangerous pathogen E. coli O157:H7, yet there is currently no disclosure required.

The first E. coli lawsuit against National Steak and Poultry (NSP), an Oklahoma meat manufacturing facility, was filed today in the Third Judicial District Court in Salt Lake City.  The civil suit was filed by Marler Clark and by Utah attorneys Jared Faerber and Dustin Lance on behalf of a child sickened in the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to NSP beef products.  The lawsuit also names as yet unidentified “John Doe” companies that may have been involved in distributing the tainted meat products.

Everett, WA Seventeen people who were severely sickened in a 2008 E. coli outbreak at Ixtapa Family Mexican Restaurant (doing business as Ixtapa Barajas, Inc.) in Snohomish, Washington filed suit today. The lawsuit was filed by Drew Falkenstein and brings to 25 the number of victims that Seattle-based foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark has sought compensation for. 

Over a year after the outbreak of Salmonella in peanut butter that sickened hundreds and caused the deaths of at least nine, criminal prosecution of the responsible parties has yet to begin.  Marler Clark, who represents more than 45 of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) victims, is assisting them in an effort to hold PCA president Stewart Parnell accountable for his actions.  Some of the victims spoke this week about Parnell and PCA.