Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: meat

  • Court Considers Insurance Coverage for Listeria Contamination

    A federal court in Ohio has determined that, for the most part, an “all-risk” insurance policy excludes from coverage the losses sustained by a meat processor whose products were contaminated with Listeria during processing. HoneyBaked Foods, Inc. v. Affiliated FM Ins. Co., No. 08-01686 (N.D. Ohio, W. Div., decided December 2, 2010). Still, the court ordered…

  • Studies Link Red Meat to Esophageal and Stomach Cancer

    A recent study has reportedly identified “positive associations between redmeat intake and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.” Amanda Cross, et al., “Meat Consumption and Risk of Esophageal and Gastric Cancer in a Large Prospective Study,” American Journal of Gastroenterology, October 2010. Using a large cohort study of approximately 500,000 adults, researchers evidently concluded during a 10-year…

  • FSIS Issues In-Plant Video Monitoring Draft Guidelines

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued draft guidelines for video monitoring at federally inspected meat and poultry plants. Although the guidelines do not require in-plant video monitoring, such practices can be used to help strengthen food safety and humane animal-handling practices, and to monitor product inventory and…

  • Red Meat Allegedly Linked to Metabolic Syndrome

    A recent study has purportedly linked processed red meat consumption to metabolic syndrome (MetS), which includes health factors such as abdominal obesity and elevated triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, blood pressure, or fasting glucose, or reduced HDL cholesterol. N. Babio, et al., “Association between red meat consumption and metabolic syndrome in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular…

  • EEOC Sues Meatpacker for Alleged Discrimination Against Muslim Employees

    The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reportedly filed lawsuits in Colorado and Nebraska federal courts against a meatpacking company that allegedly “created a hostile work environment for its Somali and Muslim employees due to their race, national origin, and religion.” According to the EEOC, the workers’ supervisors and co-workers “threw blood, meat, and bones…

  • Processed Meat Consumption Allegedly Linked to Bladder Cancer Risk

    A recent study has purportedly linked an increased risk of bladder cancer to “meatrelated compounds,” including nitrate and nitrite. Leah Ferrucci, et al., “Meat and components of meat and the risk of bladder cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study,” Cancer, August 2010. Researchers apparently identified 854 transitional cell bladder-cancer cases among the 300,933…

  • Former Kosher Slaughterhouse Manager Claims Trial Court Participated in Immigration Raid Planning

    Lawyers for Sholom Rubashkin, who was recently sentenced to 27 years in prison for financial fraud discovered in connection with a kosher meatpacking plant in the aftermath of a 2008 raid to find illegal immigrants, have alleged trial-court improprieties in their request for a new trial. U.S. v. Rubashkin, No. 08-1324 (N.D. Iowa, filed August…

  • Federal Legislation Would Strengthen Food Safety Measures Regarding E. Coli

    Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has introduced a bill (H.R. 6024) that would require stricter testing procedures designed to eradicate “the dangerous Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria” from meat and meat-processing facilities. The E. coli Traceability and Eradication Act would also establish a tracking procedure to enable the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement faster recalls. According…