Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: pathogen

  • FDA Commits to Pet Food Salmonella Testing

    The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) has issued an October 24, 2011, memorandum calling for nationwide testing of pet food “to determine the prevalence of Salmonella” and remove contaminated samples from commerce. According to CVM, regulators are concerned about the transmission of “pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans and other…

  • House Committee Begins Investigating Jensen Farm Owners in Listeria Outbreak

    The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has requested that the owners of Jensen Farms, identified as the source of the cantaloupe contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes responsible for a nationwide foodborne illness outbreak, schedule a briefing with committee staff. The October 21, 2011, letter also asks that Ryan and Eric Jensen “preserve all documents and…

  • Manufacturer Recalls 400 Tons of Soy Flour over Salmonella Concerns

    Thumb Oilseed Producers’ Cooperative has reportedly recalled nearly 400 tons of soybean flour and soy meal used in human food and animal feed due to possible Salmonella contamination. According to a press release posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website, “[t]he recalled soybean flour and meal was distributed to a limited group of wholesale customers”…

  • APHIS Proposes Amendments to Bioterrorism Protection Act

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued a proposed rule that would amend and republish “the list of selected agents and toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to animal or plant health, or to animal or plant products.” The Agricultural Bioterrorism Protection Act of…

  • Lawmakers Call for Investigation into Listeria Outbreak

    Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives have written a letter requesting an investigation and hearing into the recent outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes in cantaloupe. Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) asked the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on oversight and investigations to conduct a probe into Listeria purportedly found at Jensen…

  • Del Monte Dismisses Lawsuit Seeking to Lift Cantaloupe Import Restrictions

    Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. has filed a notice of dismissal in a Maryland federal court after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to lift the import alert it imposed on cantaloupes from Guatemala that had purportedly been linked to a Salmonella outbreak. Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. v. United States, No. 11-2338…

  • California Court Reverses $12-Million Verdict , Rules Spinach Contamination Not Insured

    A California court of appeal has determined that a trial court erred in allowing a spinach seller to recover $12 million under the accidental contamination portion of its insurance policy. Fresh Express Inc. v. Beazley Syndicate 2623/623 at Lloyd’s, No. H035246 (Cal. Ct. App., decided September 8, 2011) (unpublished). According to the court, the produce…

  • USDA Intends to Ban Six E. Coli Strains in Raw Beef Products

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced its intention to prohibit six serogroups of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in addition to E. coli O157:H7. According to FSIS, the agency plans to begin testing for the additional STEC on March 5, 2012, at which time those six strains will…