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

In a recent speech, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Jerold Mande outlined various areas of research he believes will help improve food safety.

During his remarks, Mande noted that he would like to push for more rapid and effective testing. "We need better sampling methods, along with tests that more rapidly detect a broader range of harmful pathogens," he said. "We also need stronger assurance that laboratories used by companies have the expertise and experience to do effective food safety testing."

In addition, Mande stated that FSIS inspectors should be given more sensitive and effective ways to detect food-borne hazards. Here too, Mande opined that the agency “needs to do a better job equipping our inspectors with the means to not let harmful pathogens slip by as we stand watch."

Next, Mande called for additional research to better identify what he referred to as “those unidentified pathogens” which could potentially be responsible for a majority of food-borne illnesses in the United States. According to the CDC, as many as 80 percent of illnesses, 70 percent of hospitalizations and 65 percent of deaths could be caused by agents other than the 30 pathogens CDC currently tracks.

Finally, Mande also suggested, and rightfully so, that additional research was needed to give farmers and ranchers better tools in order to fight food-borne pathogens. "To take the next big step forward on food safety we need to do more to have fewer pathogens on food animals when they arrive at the slaughterhouse gate," he concluded.

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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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Sonia Johnson, a distinguished advocate for equal rights, once said “We must remember that one determined person can make a significant difference, and that a small group of determined people can change the course of history.”

In the past month, the Gass Weber Mullins’ Food Safety Defense Team has addressed more than a thousand food industry leaders in venues across the globe, on topics ranging from advancements in food safety technology to outbreak surveillance and food-borne illness litigation.

The 29th Annual Microbiology Symposium in River Falls, the American Conference Institute Food-borne Illness Litigation Conference in Chicago, and the National Center for Food Safety and Technology 2009 Annual Meeting, where Shawn Stevens filled in as Keynote Speaker for Senior FDA Policy Advisor Mike Taylor, are but only a few examples.

The distinguished members of Gass Weber Mullins, of course, have written the doctrine on Managing Food-borne Illness Outbreaks and Claims.

The utilization of emerging technologies to identify previously indeterminate sources of food-borne illness outbreaks, combined with broad expertise in national outbreak surveillance, media relations, government regulation and food-borne illness litigation, have cemented the firm's unsurpassed reputation as a food safety leader, and opened the door to speaking engagements throughout the United States and abroad. In the past few weeks, the firm’s food safety attorneys have also given presentations at the SQF Annual International Conference in Guadalajara, and the 3rd Annual International Food Safety and Quality Conference in Beijing, China.

Gass Weber Mullins strives, through hard work and determination, to recognize the valiant efforts of the hardworking individuals and food companies who work tirelessly, not only to put food on our tables, but also to improve the safety of our food. And, in a world marked by an increasing number of outbreaks, an escalating number of recalls, and rising number of meritless lawsuits, their mantra always has been, and always will be, "proudly defending the hard working Americans who feed our families."

When it comes to food safety litigation, Gass Weber Mullins leads the way.

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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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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently announced that, despite previous opposition, he now favors combining the food safety functions of the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) and Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) into a single food safety agency. Currently, the USDA through it’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (“FSIS”) is responsible for regulating the safety of meat, poultry and egg products. In turn, the FDA has responsibility for most other foods. In his recent comments, Vilsack also stated that he has not yet decided whether a single agency would be best located within the FSIS, the FDA or an independent agency.

As debate continues about merging the food safety responsibilities of the USDA and FDA, Janie Gabbett (from Meatingplace.com) reported that the majority of industry participants in an online survey favored combining the food safety regulatory functions of the USDA and FDA, but only one in five believed that such a merger would result in improved food safety.

Of 289 readers who responded to the survey, 58 percent agreed the two agency functions should be combined, while 42 opposed a merger. When respondents were asked if they thought that a merger of the two agencies would improve food safety, 50 percent believed that food safety would remain unchanged, while 30 percent believed that the quality of food regulation could actually decline.

According to the survey, participants were more concerned with deficiencies in FDA regulation than in FSIS protocols. Namely, this is because, unlike the FDA, FSIS inspectors currently maintain a continuous, on-site presence in meat packing facilities, and also regularly test meat and poultry products for harmful pathogens. As a result, several respondents also concluded that if the agencies were to merge, the FDA would need to become more like FSIS, and not the other way around.

Other suggestions from survey participants included:

• Providing better technology and tools for inspectors;

• Increased laboratory testing;

• Imposing fines on plants with repeated serious violations;

• Requiring all food establishments to adopt and implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (“HACCP”) plans;

• Requiring all food establishments to adopt and implement sanitation standard operating procedures (“SSOPs”);

• Continuing to improve risk-based analysis of food safety systems in plants;

• Targeting high-risk foods (under FDA jurisdiction) and moving toward to the USDA model of inspection;

• Providing better training for inspectors; and

• Funding additional research to improve food safety.

According to Gabbett, many respondents also believed that, even with a single food safety agency, increasing the funding and number of federal inspectors would likely be needed to improve the effectiveness of regulations. According to one respondent, "simply merging two departments and changing their names . . . won't affect food safety." Rather, "there would need to be fundamental changes at the plant inspection level to actually make a difference."

Currently, the United States is the only industrial nation to have two separate federal food safety regulatory systems. Moving forward, we'll continue to post on emerging developments.

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