Bravo Farms Gouda Cheese – Costco: E. coli Outbreak Update
Pritzker Olsen attorneys are investigating a Costco and Bravo Farms gouda cheese lawsuit for E. coli and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) personal injury. To date, the E. coli outbreak has sickened 33 people in Arizona (15), Colorado (10), California (3), New Mexico (3) and Nevada (2). There have been 15 reported hospitalizations, 1 case of HUS, and no deaths.
“The physical, financial and emotional burdens of an E. coli infection can be devastating for victims and their families, and I’ve seen this happen too often in my practice as an E. coli lawyer,” said food poisoning attorney Fred Pritzker. “Our law firm is investigating this outbreak and what led to the contamination of the cheese. We are also concerned about cross contamination.”
CDC is collaborating with the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and public health officials in the five states to investigate this multistate E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Through pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping, the pathogen has been identified as a rare strain of E. coli O157:H7 that has never been seen before in the PulseNet database. PulseNet is the national subtyping network that performs molecular surveillance of foodborne infections.
Laboratory testing had confirmed the presence of E. coli 0157:H7, matching the outbreak strain, in two opened packages of Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese purchased at Costco and taken from two different case patient’s homes. Additionally, preliminary laboratory testing conducted on an unopened package of Bravo Farms Dutch Style Gouda Cheese obtained from a Costco retail location has identified E. coli O157:H7. Further laboratory testing is being conducted to confirm these results.
The FDA has collected Bravo Farms product samples for testing to identify potential sources of contamination. The additional investigative activities include:
- Conducting surveillance to identify additional illnesses that could be related to the outbreak.
- Gathering and testing food products that may be contaminated with bacteria.
- Following epidemiologic leads gathered from interviews with patients, food purchase information, or from patterns of processing, production and/or distribution of suspected products.
- Investigating the distribution chain to ascertain the point of contamination.
For more information call an experienced E. coli lawyer with PritzkerOlsen, P.A. at 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free) or submit our free consultation form.
E. coli in Well Water Puts McLeod, ND Residents on Alert
Well water has tested positive for E. coli in the tiny town of McLeod, North Dakota, according to local news sources.
The water that supplies residents of this tiny town 55 miles southwest of Fargo comes from local wells that use groundwater. These wells have tested positive for E. coli contamination twice since 1986, news reports indicate. North Dakota state health officials plan on testing every well in the town on Monday.
E. coli Well Water Lawsuit
E. coli safety attorney Elliot Olsen recently settled a case on behalf of an Iowa toddler who became sick with E. coli poisoning after consuming the water that supplied the rural home her family rented. In May of 2007 she came down withsymptoms of an E. coli infection, including severe diarrhea and abdominal pain. She was hospitalized and her symptoms worsened as the pathogen infected her blood. She developed a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome (E. coli HUS) that destroys red blood cells and keeps kidneys from serving their function as filters that remove waste from the bloodstream.
She was on dialysis and in the hospital for a month and still has long-term kidney damage even now, three years after her initial illness. She could need a kidney transplant later in life.
How Does E. coli Contaminate Well Water?
Because harmful strains of E. coli can live in animal and human digestive systems, they can therefore be found in animal and human waste. After any kind of precipitation—a rainfall, a snowmelt—E. coli from animal or human fecal matter can wash into groundwater, rivers, lakes and streams. This can consequently contaminate water sources and, if the water isn’t sufficiently treated, can make people seriously sick.
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- Over 15 million U.S. households rely on private, household wells for drinking water.
- If polluted ground water is consumed, it could cause illness. Ground water pollution can be caused by seepage through landfills, failed septic tanks, underground fuel tanks, fertilizers and pesticides, and runoff from urban areas.
- It is important that private ground water wells are checked regularly to ensure that the water is safe for drinking.
- Typically, private water systems that serve no more than 25 people at least 60 days of the year and have no more than 15 service connections are not regulated by the EPA.
Source: http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/36320/
E. Coli HUS Lawsuit From Contaminated Well Water
A lawsuit involving contaminated well water has been settled by food safety attorney Elliot Olsen of Pritzker Olsen law firm. Although E. coli infections are more commonly associated with contaminated food like ground beef, it is entirely possible to contract E. coli poisoning from water supplies as well.
In this particular case, an Iowa toddler became sick from E. coli-contaminated well water that served as the water supply to the rural home her family rented. In May of 2007 she became sick with symptoms of an E. coli infection, including severe diarrhea and abdominal pain. She was hospitalized and her symptoms worsened as the pathogen infected her blood. Her condition, known as hemolytic uremic syndrome ( HUS), destroyed her red blood cells and kept the kidneys from serving their purpose as filters that clean and remove waste from the bloodstream.
She was put on kidney dialysis and remained in the hospital for about a month. Even three years later, she has permanent kidney damage and will continue to require medication and treatment, and could need a kidney transplant later in life.
Employees of the Iowa county where the home is located tested tap water from the house in June of 2007 and the results were positive for E. coli. The home is surrounded by pasture land, and cattle are known to graze on land uphill from the well. Expert witnesses, including a PhD environmental engineer from a major university and a PhD microbiologist from another major university specializing in E-coli, were hired to examine the situation and confirmed that cattle manure in rainwater most likely drained into the well and contaminated the water with the pathogen.
Although settlement earned for this young girl will help offset past and future medical expenses, they cannot undo the suffering this family has experienced. Nor will the settlement change the fact that property owners have a duty to their tenants to provide safe, clean drinking water—a duty that the property owner in this case has failed to fulfill.
Massachusetts Adams Farm Ground Beef E coli Recall
State and federal health officials are investigating the scope of E. coli O157:H7 contamination from ground beef products distributed by Adams Farm Slaughterhouse of Athol, Mass.
According to a recall announcement issued Monday night by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, 2,574 pounds of ground beef products that were was distributed to private owners on three Massachusetts farms is being recalled.
This is a Class I High Health Risk recall and the Massachusetts farms that received the product were identified as Mazzarese, Side Hill Farm and Sweet Water Farm. The suspected ground beef E. coli packages are marked with the packaging date of 11/11/2009 and bear the USDA establishment number EST 5497 on the USDA seal of inspection.
According to this recall, it was initiated after the Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed a positive ground beef sample for E. coli O157:H7, which it collected during an epidemiological investigation. Working in conjunction with Massachusetts E. coli experts, FSIS determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and an illness in the state of Massachusetts. The investigation is continuing and anyone with signs or symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 infection should consult a physician.
This organism causes extremely painful and often bloody diarrhea. In more than 5 percent of cases, patients develop life-threatening hemolytic remic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and can suffer kidney failure, stroke, damage to their kidneys, heart, brain and central nervous system. Some 60 people die each year from E. coli infections and many more are hospitalized and suffer life-long health conditions.
Steak Safety: The Straight Story
E. coli in steak: What you need to know
Is it always safe to eat a steak served rare? Seems like a simple question.
But a Dec. 24 National Steak and Poultry recall of almost 250,000 pounds of blade-tenderized beef forced consumers and health officials to reevaluate the question—especially after government agencies associated the recalled beef with 21 cases of E. coli in 16 states.
Typically, ground beef comes to mind when considering meat that could be tainted with E. coli. But this outbreak involved blade-tenderized, or what health officials call “non-intact” beef, which included steaks, beef medallions and sirloin tips. “Blade-tenderized” or “non-intact” refers to meat that has been punctured with needles or blades to break down the tissue and make a tougher cut of muscle more tender. Any pathogen (like E. coli) on the surface of the beef is normally killed in the cooking process if the beef is intact. But the mechanical tenderization process drives pathogens inside the beef. If it isn’t cooked until the internal temperature reaches at least 140 degrees, the beef could still contain the pathogen.
Government officials and industry groups offer mixed advice on what consumers should do. The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods determined in 2002 that non-intact beef can indeed harbor infective amounts of E. coli, but that following the 140-degree rule will put you in the clear. A 2002 risk assessment by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) concluded there is almost no difference in risk of illness from intact versus non-intact steaks.
And yet there have been several E. coli outbreaks since then involving mechanically tenderized meat. This has put the spotlight on the issue of labeling. If non-intact steak must be cooked a certain way to guarantee its safety, then shouldn’t consumers have the right to know whether their steak is intact so they can cook it accordingly? That was the recommendation issued in a 2005 study by the Minnesota Department of Health following a 2003 outbreak of E. coli associated with blade-tenderized frozen steaks sold by door-to-door salesmen. In light of the National Steak and Poultry outbreak, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro called for labeling of non-intact steaks, stating “USDA has been aware of the E. coli risks associated with mechanically tenderized steaks as early as 1999, but has refused to act…consumers should be made fully aware of the products they are receiving so they can assure that they are cooked at the appropriate temperature.”
Furthermore, does this mean every time we eat at a restaurant, we should order our steak cooked to an internal temperature of 140 degrees? The National Restaurant Association in 2000 decided that restaurant patrons asking for rare- or medium-cooked steak should be informed that non-intact steaks should be cooked to at least 145 degrees to ensure safety. But when is the last time your server told you that?
