Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: E. coli

  • Michael Moss, “E. Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection,” The New York Times, October 4, 2009

    One hundred three years after Upton Sinclair published his meatpacking industry exposé, The New York Times has published an article explaining how current food safety standards may be responsible for the 16 E. coli-tainted beef outbreaks that have occurred over the past three years. Revealing how failure to test all the scraps and trimmings and…

  • California Court Rules Against Insurer over Losses from Spinach Contamination Outbreak

    A California trial court has determined that the insurer of the nation’s largest seller of bagged fresh spinach must pay for its losses from the 2006 nationwide E. coli outbreak that led to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory against eating any fresh spinach. Fresh Express, Inc. v. Beazley Syndicate 2623/623 at Lloyd’s, No. M88545…

  • Cookie-Dough Contamination Remains in the News; E. Coli Found at Plant

    According to news sources, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors have found E. coli in a package of cookie dough at Nestlé USA’s plant in Danville, Virginia. The strain did not, however, match the DNA fingerprint of the strain purportedly linked to the illnesses of some 72 people in 30 states. FDA’s David Acheson, assistant commissioner…

  • First Lawsuit Filed in E. coli Raw Cookie-Dough Outbreak

    Food litigation lawyer William Marler has apparently filed the first lawsuit against Nestlé USA for injury allegedly caused by E. coli-contaminated cookie dough. The outbreak, which has reportedly infected more than 70 people in 30 states since March 2009, has been linked through food surveys to the consumption of raw refrigerated cookie dough, which has…

  • New Jersey Court Finds Insurance Contract Ambiguous; Insurer Liable for Tainted Food-Related Claims

    A New Jersey Superior Court judge has denied insurers’ request for summary judgment in a case brought by Taco Bell Restaurant franchisees seeking “protection from the consequences of publicity about contaminated food served at restaurants.” In re: Quick Service Mgmt., Inc. v. Underwriters of Lloyds, No. 4861-07 (N.J. Super. Ct., decided June 12, 2009). The court…

  • Documentary Aims to Expose Purported Dangers of Food Industry

    A new documentary titled Food, Inc. apparently paints a vivid picture of the foods Americans eat–from bigger-breasted chickens fattened artificially to new strains of deadly E. coli bacteria, to a food supply controlled by a handful of corporations. The filmmakers claim these purported dangers create harmful effects on public health, the environment, and worker and…

  • New FDA Bottled Water Rules Aim to Combat E. Coli

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule that requires bottled water manufacturers to face stricter standards to prevent E. coli contamination . All manufacturers are currently required to test source water for germs each week, but starting December 1, 2009, if tests prove positive for E. coli, companies must explain in…

  • Meat Processors Enter Dispute over Responsibility for E. Coli Outbreak

    Nebraska Beef, Ltd. has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking a declaration that it was not responsible for the E. coli contamination that led to the recall of nearly 7 million pounds of beef in 2008. Nebraska Beef, Ltd. v. Meyer Foods Holdings, L.L.C., No. 09-43 (D. Neb., filed January 30, 2009). According to the complaint,…