E. coli Lawyer Speaks at Food Safety Conference
By Brendan Flaherty
E. coli lawyers like Elliot Olsen are most often at odds with food producers, including growers and marketers of fresh produce.
Olsen represents victims of E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks and other food poisoning incidents that are caused by preventable contamination of vegetables, meat, legumes, fruit and such processed foods as refrigerated Nestle cookie dough or peanut butter.
But at a one-day food safety symposium today in Austin, Texas, Olsen was an invited guest of the Produce Marketing Association. His job was to speak on food safety gaps found at food companies — some hazardous enough to cause the demise of a firm within 24 hours of an investigation linking a producer’s food to a lethal outbreak.
Olsen, a principal at the nationally known firm of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., told the gathering of executives that far too often food companies underestimate the damage an outbreak of E. coli or some other pathogen can do to their business. As a result, it’s not uncommon for a problem to be handled poorly by low-level managers before upper management is even aware of the situation. Olsen urged senior executives to get closely involved in food safety and any potential outbreaks of food poisoning that are identified.
Olsen’s firm is currently representing E. coli victims, including those who have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUB, a severe complication of E. coli that can cause death or life-long health issues. He emphasized the human cost of food safety negligence by describing the personal struggles of some past clients without revealing their names. For example, he spoke of one man who was a vibrant 80-year-old retiree before he became infected with Listeria, which paralyzed him. After spending 400 days in a nursing home, he died.
“It’s not just a game to us,” Olsen said. “Part of our mission is prevention.”
Olsen stressed the importance of working toward elimination of foodborne illness. He said companies learn valuable lessons when victims assert their rights to E. coli compensation for injuries, lost wages, pain and suffering.
It was Olsen’s second speech to members of the Produce Marketing Association. The first came last month at a larger food safety conference in Monterey, California. The organization also has asked him to speak at an upcoming symposium in Rochester, New York.
For more information or to reach Mr. Olsen, call PritzkerOlsen law firm at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free).
