Food & Beverage Litigation & Regulatory Update

Tag: salmonella

  • FDA Issues Supplement to 2013 Food Code

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published modifications to the 2013 Food Code based on recommendations made by industry, regulators and other stakeholders during the 2014 Biennial Meeting of the Conference for Food Protection. The Food Code and its Supplement offer the federal agency’s best advice for minimizing the risk of foodborne illness…

  • Peanut Corp. Convictions Upheld

    A Georgia federal court has upheld the convictions of Stewart Parnell, Michael Parnell and Mary Wilkerson, former Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) executives, after an investigation into the defendants’ claims of jury misconduct. United States v. Parnell, 13-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., order entered May 28, 2015). The three were convicted on charges related…

  • Wisconsin Manufacturer Receives Jail Sentence and $750,000 Fine over Tainted Cheese

    An Illinois federal court has sentenced the former president of a Wisconsin cheese company to five days in jail, one year of probation and a $750,000 fine for lying to U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors about Queso Cincho de Guerrero cheese imported from Mexico and tainted with E. coli and Salmonella. U.S. v. Zurita,…

  • Poultry Health Focus of Upcoming APHIS Meeting

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is convening a public meeting of the General Conference Committee of the National Poultry Improvement Plan on July 23, 2015, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The group of industry and state agency representatives will reportedly discuss (i) approved tests and (ii) updates regarding…

  • New Yorker Examines Role of Litigation in Food Safety

    A February 2, 2015, New Yorker article following the career of plaintiffs’ attorney Bill Marler examines how litigation has shaped the food-safety landscape in the absence of robust regulatory oversight. Viewing the U.S. inspection and recall system through the lens of a 2013 Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak that reportedly sickened an estimated 18,000 people, Wil Hylton interviews…

  • U.S. Foodborne Illness Source Attribution Focus of Upcoming Interagency Meeting

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are hosting a February 24, 2015, public meeting in Washington, D.C., to update stakeholders and solicit input about the agencies’ collaborative initiatives to improve foodborne illness source attribution. The discussion will target the…

  • USDA Proposes New Pathogen-Reduction Methods for Poultry Products

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed new standards that aim to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in “the poultry items that Americans most often purchase,” including ground chicken and turkey products as well as raw chicken breasts, legs and wings, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The proposed standards would require routine sampling throughout…

  • McDonough Offers Perspectives to Law360 About Food & Beverage Trends for 2015

    Shook, Hardy & Bacon Agribusiness & Food Safety Co-Chair Madeleine McDonough was quoted in two January 2, 2015, Law360 articles about various legal, legislative and regulatory issues expected to affect food and beverage manufacturers in the new year. Given the September 2014 convictions of former Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell and two other company…