Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: pathogen

  • E. Coli-Tainted Spinach Suit Settled

    A Utah woman who claims that E. coli-tainted spinach caused her irritable bowel syndrome and subsequent chronic incapacitation has reportedly settled her lawsuit against three California-based companies. Chelsey Macey, 26, and her husband were seeking damages in excess of $5 million. A jury awarded the couple that amount in compensatory damages, but before it could…

  • FDA Issues First Annual Reportable Food Registry Report

    The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued the first annual report on its Reportable Food Registry (RFR) designed to prevent foodborne illness outbreaks. Summarizing 2,240 online food safety reports from the food industry and public health officials between September 2009 and September 2010, the report “is a measure of our success in receiving early…

  • APHIS Updates Avian Influenza Rules

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has issued an interim rule updating its highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) requirements for importing birds, poultry and hatching eggs. Because APHIS’s previous restrictions applied only to the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza, the new rule extends its purview to include any HPAI…

  • Insurance Coverage Claims Settled in Pistachio Recall Cases

    Setton International Foods, which recalled more than 15 million pounds of pistachios in 2009 when Salmonella was detected in a delivery to one of its customers, has reportedly entered a settlement agreement with its insurers in a dispute over coverage for third-party claims. While the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, a federal…

  • TFAH Releases 2010 Agroterrorism Report

    Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have issued their eighth annual report, Ready or Not? Protecting the Public from Diseases, Disasters, and Bioterrorism, which warns that financial woes threaten recent gains made in public health protection. According to a December 14, 2010, TFAH press release, no state scored lower than five…

  • NRC Report Finds Little Benefit to Additional Meat Testing

    A recent National Research Council (NRC) report has apparently found no scientific evidence to support “more stringent testing of meat purchased through the government’s ground beef purchase program,” which distributes products to the National School Lunch Program and other public outlets. According to a December 9, 2010, National Academies press release, the U.S. Department of…

  • 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…

  • New Egg Recall Involves Man Involved in Prior Recall

    An Ohio poultry facility linked to the latest egg recall over Salmonella-contamination concerns was reportedly the recipient of a $125 million investment by Austin “Jack” DeCoster, the man who owned the two Iowa farms linked to the August 2010 recall of 550 million potentially contaminated eggs. The Ohio Agriculture Department apparently indicated earlier this year…