E. coli Legislation Meets With Resistance From Meat Industry
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York introduced legislation last week that would impose regulations on six strains of E. coli, a potentially life-threatening bacterium that is can spread by being foodborne or waterborne. Currently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) only regulates the most widely recognized strain of the E. coli pathogen, which is E. coli O157:H7.
Minnesota E. coli Outbreak Linked to Hartmann Dairy Farm Raw Milk
A Minnesota E. coli outbreak has been traced to raw milk from a small dairy farm in Gibbon, MN, according to a Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) press release. Health department officials are warning consumers about the potential foodborne illness dangers associated with drinking raw milk and consuming other unpasteurized dairy products.
Hartmann Dairy Farm, which is also known as M.O.M.’s, is the farm linked to the three reported E. coli O157:H7 infections.
$32 Million Verdict in Cooper Tire Product Liability Lawsuit
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has been found liable for a minivan rollover caused by a defective tire the company manufactured, according to news reports on the ruling of a Des Moines, Iowa court. In 2007, Assata Karlar, 28, was killed in an accident that also left Ivon Toe, 39, paralyzed. Karlar’s husband, children and estate were awarded $420,000; $1 million; and $649,000 respectively. Toe is to receive $28.4 million and the company must pay another $1.5 million in punitive damages.
Fatal Apartment Fire Claims Five Lives in Minneapolis
Two children are included in the total of five fire deaths that occurred as a result of an apartment building fire in Minneapolis near 30th Avenue S. and E. Lake Street that began at 6 a.m. Friday morning. The names of the people killed in the apartment fire have not yet been release. One resident of the apartment is still missing. “Our firefighters have been working aggressively and heroically this morning and have now contained the fire,” Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak told news sources in a Friday afternoon press conference.
More Minnesota Taconite Miners with Mesothelioma
The Minnesota Department of Health has identified four additional cases of mesothelioma in a group of 69,000 people who worked in the state’s iron mining industry between the 1930s and 1982. The four new cases bring the total number of workers diagnosed to 63.
Mesothelioma is a rare, fatal form of cancer seen almost exclusively in people who have been exposed to asbestos.
Fred Pritzker on Food Poisoning Policy and Litigation
Pritzker Olsen founder Fred Pritzker discusses foodborne illness policy, food poisoning litigation and food safety with Colleen Needles on Comcast Newsmakers.
