Defending Food Safety : Food Safety Defense Lawyer & Attorney : Gass Weber Mullins Law Firm : National Food Product Defense Counsel : Defending Food Safety Blog

Given recent improvements in national food-borne illness outbreak surveillance, more food-borne illnesses are being identified, and more outbreaks are being reported.

By extension, many of these outbreaks are being associated with an increasing number of foods, and more companies are – either directly or indirectly – being affected.

For nearly a decade, we have been defending food companies across the country in high-profile outbreak litigation (involving meritorious and non-meritorious allegations). During this period, we have also learned first-hand that when outbreaks do occur, not all investigations are performed properly, and not all resulting claims have merit.

Because of limited resources and other reasons, many outbreak investigations are still unable to identify the real culprit, and some continue to identify the wrong source. Unfortunately, in these and other cases,  many claimants (and their attorneys) continue to sue the wrong party.

Thus, when a food company is faced with an outbreak, it is critical to obtain experienced counsel counsel: (1) who understand how food-borne illnesses are tracked, investigated and confirmed; (2) who can help challenge developing assumptions and conclusions regarding potential source; (3) who can effectively respond to regulators and media during an outbreak and recall; and (4) who know how to properly defend food-borne illness claims and lawsuits when they do, indeed, occur. Over the last 10 years, our firm has written the doctrine on Defending Food-Borne Illness Outbreaks And Claims.

Although we enjoy one of the most plentiful, affordable and safest food supplies in the world, we also live in one of the most litigious societies. Thus, despite the fact that food-borne pathogens are (and likely always will be) an inherent part of our food supply, and despite the fact that individual risk can be greatly reduced through responsible consumer behavior, many individuals will continue to be affected by food-borne illness and, unfortunately, regardless of source or cause, many will continue to sue.

In recognition of your incredible efforts to provide safe and plentiful food to our families, we are proud, when lawsuits are threatened, to protect and defend yours.

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Our food safety lawyers work with food companies nationwide helping prevent litigation, manage recalls and defend high profile food-borne illness outbreaks and claims. 

Over the last decade, the firm has worked closely with many food companies throughout the country (including major food producers, national restaurant chains, and several distributors and grocers) assisting with a wide-range of food safety matters, including crisis planning, management and outbreak litigation.

During this period, the firm has worked with food clients in over 20 states (including Arizona, Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin), has represented clients in major outbreak litigation (including outbreaks and cases involving E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Clostridium Perfringens, Staphylococcus and Norovirus), and has assisted with crisis management and other issues in advance of and following major food product recalls.

Shawn K. Stevens, a member of the firm's food safety defense team, defends and counsels clients nationwide in product liability, personal injury and food-borne illness matters. 

Mr. Stevens speaks regularly to national audiences on issues relating to crisis management, food-borne illness outbreaks, recalls and lawsuits, and works with numerous food companies (including one of the nation’s largest food producers, national restaurant chains, and several food distributors and grocers) in the defense of food-borne illness claims. 

Mr. Stevens also has wide ranging experience defending clients in commercial, insurance and medical malpractice disputes, and was recently recognized by his peers as a Wisconsin Super Lawyer Rising Star.   

Ralph A. Weber, Ralph A. Weber has represented clients in several of Wisconsin’s highest profile lawsuits over the past several decades, and currently litigates for one of the world’s largest companies in food safety cases throughout the United States. His trial experience includes many lengthy jury and court trials. His appellate experience includes multiple oral arguments before the Wisconsin Supreme Court and intermediate appellate courts.

The prestigious international lawyer reference, Chambers Guide-USA, identifies Mr. Weber as a top commercial litigator. He also has been recognized by his peers through selection to Best Lawyers in America, Wisconsin Super Lawyers, and has been selected one of the Best of The U. S.’s list of “Best of Class” service providers in the United States.

An Adjunct Professor at Marquette University Law School, he taught Trial Advocacy for 15 years, and created a jury research and courtroom facility, the Trial Science Institute. In addition to speaking about litigation subjects, Mr. Weber co-edited a best selling book, Dear Americans: Letters from the Desk of Ronald Reagan (Doubleday, 2003).

Mr. Weber served on the Law Review at Columbia University Law School, graduating in 1982, and then served as a Law Clerk for the Hon. Richard D. Cudahy, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He graduated summa cum laude from Marquette University in 1978.
 

Amelia L. McCarthy, a member of the firm, specializes in general commercial, health care, food and product liability litigation.

She also currently serves as a Municipal Prosecutor for a Wisconsin community and has served as a Public Service Special Prosecutor for the Dane County and Milwaukee County District Attorney's offices. 

Throughout the course of her career, Ms. McCarthy has tried over 50 court and jury trials. She also successfully defended four class action lawsuits, obtaining three dismissals with prejudice and one nuisance value settlement without having to proceed through class certification.

Ms. McCarthy has been recognized by her peers through selection to Wisconsin Super Lawyers and was recently named one of Milwaukee's Top "40 under 40" business leaders.

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It is no small secret that our collective survival depends, quite literally, on the food we eat.

The availability and affordability of food has a direct impact on our individual health, along with (if we work in the food industry) the success and longevity of our careers. Indeed, if we produce food for others, the quality of the food we market and sell also affects our individual ability to provide for and feed our families. In this regard, every one of us (no matter how large or small our role may be) has an interest in making sure that the food we produce (and, ultimately, consume) is the safest it can possibly be.

To date, we’ve done an excellent job. Nevertheless, despite our best efforts, the existence of naturally occurring pathogens in our environment – and by extension in many foods – remains a real part of our business and lives. Given the limitations of science and, in no small part, consumer behavior, no one is immune. Every month, for instance, approximately 6,000,000 Americans will develop some type of food-borne illness. This also means that – each year– nearly one in every four Americans will be affected. Of these, approximately 325,000 individuals will be hospitalized, and nearly 5,000 could die.

And, no matter how much we care about food safety, this trend is not only likely to continue, but will likely accelerate. Given recent and substantial improvements in national food-borne illness outbreak surveillance, more food-borne illnesses are being identified, and more outbreaks are being reported. By extension, these outbreaks are being associated with an increasing number of foods, and more companies are – either directly or indirectly – being affected.

This resulting increase in reported outbreaks, along with a corresponding increase in media coverage, has also affected public and governmental interest in food safety. The politics of food safety, of course, translates exponentially into more regulation and a significant increase in food litigation. Thus, if your company has not yet faced a food-borne illness claim, chances are in the short term it will. Additionally, for this reason, businesses should begin contemplating how to best position themselves (from both a food safety and liability standpoint) to anticipate future problems, reduce company exposure, and react appropriately when an alleged food-borne illness or outbreak does indeed occur.

Not all food-borne illnesses claims, however, have merit. As noted, as a direct result of the growing public and political awareness in food safety, we have also witnessed an explosion in food-borne illness and outbreak litigation. In turn, we also know that, because of limited resources and other reasons, some outbreak investigations are still unable to identify the real culprit, and some continue to identify the wrong source. In these and other cases, many claimants (and their attorneys) continue to sue the wrong party.

Thus, here too, it is critical that food companies understand how food-borne illnesses are tracked, identified and confirmed, what to expect in a food-borne illness investigation, how to respond during an outbreak or recall, how to react when confronted with a potential claim, and how to properly defend their business and reputation when lawsuits are ultimately filed.

In any event, this is why we are proud to offer our Advance Series on Managing Food-borne Illness Outbreaks and Claims. For nearly a decade, our food safety team has helped food companies across the nation prevent litigation, manage crisis and defend claims (both meritorious and non-meritorious allegations). In the coming weeks and months, this series will provide additional and timely insight on what food companies can do to anticipate risk and reduce potential exposure, to effectively respond to and manage food-borne illness outbreaks and claims, and to effectively defend food-borne illness litigation and lawsuits when they do, indeed, occur.

Although we enjoy one of the most plentiful, affordable and safest food supplies in the world, we also live in one of the most litigious societies. Thus, despite the fact that food-borne pathogens are (and likely always will be) an inherent part of our food supply, and despite the fact that individual risk can be greatly reduced through responsible consumer behavior, many individuals will continue to be affected by food-borne illness and, unfortunately, regardless of source or cause, many will continue to sue.

In recognition of the incredible efforts hard working Americans to provide safe and affordable food to our families, we feel inclined, when lawsuits overreach, to protect and defend yours.

Again, thanks for a job well done. And, welcome to www.defendingfoodsafety.com.

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• Return to Defending Claims.  

So, here we go again. Thinking about food rather than eating it. But, that's okay.

Because helping food companies decrease the risk of potential litigation, finding the real source of an outbreak (when it does occur), helping a faultless company avert a crisis, working to extract an innocent food producer from a stray investigation, or simply proving decisively before trial that a food-borne illness claim lacks all merit, is well worth the small sacrifice of delaying a meal.

For nearly a decade, we have worked nationally with food companies and food safety professionals preventing litigation, managing outbreaks and defending claims.

During this period, we have observed (first hand) what really happens inside our processing plants, grocery stores and restaurants, and are here to proclaim, without hesitation, that we are proud to eat the food you make. Additionally, while our food safety system may never be perfect, it is extremely well suited to identify problems when they arise, to encourage quick and effective solutions, and to help ensure that our food supply remains one of the most plentiful, affordable and safest in the entire world.

Thank you for a job well done!

Welcome to www.defendingfoodsafety.com.

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For nearly a decade, our food safety team has worked closely with food companies managing outbreaks and defending claims.  In most cases, outbreaks and recalls can be effectively managed by working closely with governmental agencies to gain a complete picture of an ongoing investigation, while at the same time encouraging investigators to freely and rapidly share developing information 

Unfortunately, however, accurate information regarding the potential sources or scope of an outbreak can sometimes be extremely difficult for companies to obtain.  This is because, once illnesses are identified, the CDC and FDA (along with state and local health departments) are the only entities who have real time access (via PulseNet and OutbreakNet) to the most current and important information regarding the developing outbreak. 

As a result, until developing outbreak information is actually shared by investigative agencies, food companies in the supply chain often have no idea what specific upstream companies, suppliers, product lines and/or lots might potentially be implicated in the ongoing investigation.  This is especially true when multiple companies are involved in the production of a product, and where lots are, in some instances, defined by hours or days.   In turn, most companies must wait for information to be shared by governmental investigators before even becoming aware that their products might potentially be involved - let alone to be in a position to determine whether to issue a precautionary recall of select foods.  This is also why, in our view, it is extremely important for consumers and industry alike to understand fully how food-borne illnesses and outbreaks are identified and tracked.

In the current salmonella outbreak investigation, these efforts, of course, are continuing.  Since our last update, an additional six companies have announced precautionary and voluntary recalls of select products manufactured with raw materials potentially associated with the current outbreak.  These companies include Landies Candies (select peanut butter filled chocolates), Lovin Oven (certain Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars), Best Brands Corp. (peanut butter frozen cookie dough), Aspen Hills (certain cookie dough products), Nash Finch (select bakery products), and Chef Jay's Food Products (select peanut butter bars, cookies and brownies).  In turn, following the expanded recall by the South Bend Chocolate Company (which included various candies containing peanut butter), the Rain Creek Baking Corporation announced a voluntary and precautionary product withdrawal of select Peanut Butter Turtles, Baskets and Princesses. 

Although the CDC reports that it is still working to determine whether any additional food products might be affected, it confirms (as we reported previously) that these and other product manufacturers are working very closely with the agency to identify the existence and scope of any additional potentially affected foods.  We appreciate their joint and continuing efforts.  We also, of course, will continue to report as additional news develops.

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