The Current Outbreak — The Kebab Shop (2026)
As of May 19, 2026, nine California residents have been infected with an outbreak strain of STEC O157:H7 linked to beef kofta served at several California locations of The Kebab Shop restaurant chain. Illness onset dates range from March 27 through April 30, 2026. Six of the illnesses are in children. Five individuals have been hospitalized, and two have developed HUS — acute kidney failure. The beef kofta — seasoned ground beef kebabs — was produced by Olympia Food Industries in Franklin Park, Illinois, and supplied to The Kebab Shop locations in California, Texas, and Florida. The Kebab Shop stopped selling beef kofta at all locations on May 18, 2026.
1993 — Jack in the Box: Where It All Began
The Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak was a catastrophe — hundreds sickened, dozens hospitalized with kidney failure, four children dead. The attorneys who would go on to found Marler Clark handled most of the resulting litigation, eventually securing individual and class-action settlements totaling more than $50 million — the largest foodborne illness payments the country had ever seen. His client was Brianne Kiner, nine years old. She spent 42 days in a coma, suffered kidney failure and permanent neurological damage. Marler won her a $15.6 million settlement — that case launched his career and never left him.
1994 — The Single Most Important Regulatory Action
The year after Jack in the Box, FSIS Administrator Michael Taylor declared E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant in raw ground beef — meaning it was now illegal to sell hamburger contaminated with this pathogen. The USDA also mandated safe handling labels, required HACCP plans, and raised cook temperature requirements for the restaurant industry.
The meat industry fought back hard. The declaration was met with strong opposition from the meat industry, which filed suit claiming the USDA had acted arbitrarily. However, the United States District Court upheld the USDA’s authority, finding it had the power to declare substances adulterants.
The industry could no longer point to the consumer and say, “It’s on you,” as USDA’s Taylor put it. “They had to take responsibility for the safety of their product.”
1998–2002 — A Wave of Outbreaks and a Landmark Recall
Even as regulations took hold, outbreaks continued. In 1999, nearly 80 people were sickened in a Golden Corral E. coli outbreak in central Nebraska. In 2001, Marler Clark represented the family of a 12-year-old boy from Norcross, Georgia, infected with E. coli O157:H7 linked to Excel brand ground beef.
The 2002 ConAgra outbreak was a turning point. Marler Clark represented 33 victims — including six children who developed HUS and the family of an Ohio woman who died. ConAgra recalled 18.6 million pounds of ground beef from its Greeley, Colorado plant — the second largest meat recall in U.S. history at the time. The USDA subsequently shut down the Greeley plant for repeated failures to prevent fecal contamination.
2002 — “Put Me Out of Business”
After ConAgra and Emmpak, Marler testified before Congress and issued a challenge that became famous in food safety circles. Just over 20 years after writing an op-ed challenging the USDA/FSIS and the beef industry to “put him out of business,” E. coli cases linked to ground beef had nearly — but not completely — disappeared. He called for more inspectors with real authority, a sampling system that could prevent outbreaks rather than document them afterward, and mandatory recall authority for contaminated products.
2007 — Stephanie Smith and the Cargill Outbreak
Stephanie Smith was a 22-year-old dance instructor from Cold Spring, Minnesota, who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after eating a Cargill-produced hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. She was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Her story became the subject of a front-page New York Times investigation by reporter Michael Moss, who traced her burger through the entire supply chain and exposed the industry’s practice of blending trim from multiple processors — with minimal testing for pathogens. The article revealed that Cargill did not screen individual ingredients for E. coli O157:H7, only testing once the grinding was done — making it impossible to identify which supplier had shipped tainted meat since the ingredients had already been mixed together. Marler represented Smith in her lawsuit against Cargill.
2009 — Marler Funds a $500,000 Study and Petitions for Broader Protections
Concerned that dangerous strains beyond O157:H7 were being ignored, Marler personally funded a major scientific study costing approximately $500,000, in partnership with microbiologist Dr. Mansour Samadpour of the Seattle-based Institute for Environmental Health. They tested 5,000 large retail packages of ground beef across the country for all strains of E. coli.
The results showed approximately 2% contamination — meaning that given the billions of pounds of ground beef consumed annually, millions of pounds of potentially dangerous meat were reaching consumers every year, and regulators weren’t even required to look for it. In 2009, Marler Clark petitioned FSIS to extend the adulterant designation to non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli strains.
In 2012, FSIS officially declared six additional non-O157 STEC strains adulterants in ground beef and beef products: E. coli O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145. FSIS simultaneously began mandating testing of ground beef, beef trim, and machine-tenderized steaks for these pathogens. Illnesses from non-O157 STEC strains in ground beef subsequently declined.
The same industry warnings about economic catastrophe followed — and the same thing happened: the system adapted, illnesses declined, and the sky did not fall.
The Larger Arc: Progress — But Not Victory
Between 1993 and 2002, 90% of Marler Clark’s revenue came from E. coli cases linked to hamburger. By 2003, major ground beef outbreaks had become rare — “like flipping a switch,” as Marler describes it.
But the Kebab Shop outbreak in 2026 is a reminder that the work isn’t finished. The reforms Marler fought for — the adulterant declarations, mandatory testing, HACCP requirements — made ground beef measurably safer.
For Beef Manufacturers and Processors
Test ingredients before grinding, not just finished product. The Cargill outbreak revealed that the company did not screen individual ingredients for E. coli O157:H7, only testing once the grinding was done — making it impossible to identify which supplier had shipped tainted meat since the ingredients had already been mixed together. Marler has long argued this is the fundamental flaw in the supply chain, and that testing finished product after contamination has been mixed throughout is far too late.
Stop blaming the consumer. Marler has documented that many E. coli O157:H7 cases have involved ground beef that appeared to be cooked at times and temperatures sufficient to inactivate the pathogen — meaning some other vector, likely cross-contamination, was involved. He has called it absurd for the industry to place responsibility on parents and teenagers working at burger joints when the contamination originates in the supply chain.
Maintain rigorous HACCP protocols and robust testing. The 1994 adulterant declaration required producers to develop Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plans. The combination of the 1994 adulterant declaration, HACCP implementation, higher cook temperature requirements, more robust industry testing, and sustained legal accountability through Marler Clark’s litigation produced a measurable, lasting reduction in illness and death. Marler credits industry testing improvements as a key factor in the decline of outbreaks — and warns that any rollback of vigilance brings outbreaks back.
Accept accountability through the legal system. Marler’s firm has consistently argued that civil liability is itself a safety tool. When companies face real financial consequences for contaminated product reaching consumers, they invest more heavily in prevention.
For Restaurants
Marler has been particularly emphatic about what restaurants owe their customers, especially when serving ground beef to children:
Cook ground beef to a safe internal temperature — every time. Cooking to an internal temperature of at least 160°F (71°C), as recommended by the USDA, ensures that pathogens are destroyed. Ground beef is more susceptible to bacterial contamination throughout because the muscle has been minced, mixing bacteria present on the surface into the interior. Unlike whole cuts of meat, where bacteria are primarily on the surface, ground beef must be cooked thoroughly to ensure it is safe to eat.
Don’t be lulled by recent decades of relative quiet. Marler has warned that the lack of E. coli O157:H7 cases linked to ground beef over the past twenty years is lulling restaurants into a false sense that undercooking hamburger is safe — it is not.
Use thermometers, not appearance, to verify doneness. Marler has noted that studies show meat can turn brown before it is actually “done” — making the visual “no pink” standard unreliable. Restaurants should use thermometers to verify internal temperature, not rely on color.
Prevent cross-contamination. Even the smallest amount of contamination on a food that is not cooked can cause illness. If consumers unknowingly bring this pathogen into their kitchens, it is almost impossible to avoid cross-contamination. The same is true — and arguably worse — in a busy commercial kitchen.
For Consumers
Cook ground beef to 160°F and use a thermometer. The recommended minimum internal temperature is 160°F for ground beef. Most pathogens can’t survive high heat. Don’t trust color — use a meat thermometer every time.
Be especially careful with vulnerable populations. Children under 5 years old, pregnant women, people aged 65 or older, and those with immune systems weakened by cancer, kidney disease, or other illnesses are most at risk and vulnerable to illnesses associated with contaminated food. For these groups, Marler advises particular caution with ground beef, and he strongly discourages ordering burgers cooked anything less than well-done for young children.
Understand that “USDA Inspected” is not a guarantee. In Marler’s own words, the reality is that the meat industry cannot assure the public that the meat we buy is not contaminated — and yet the USDA Inspected label implies a level of safety that, without proper cooking, does not exist.
Don’t assume a restaurant will get it right. Given the Kebab Shop outbreak — where seasoned ground beef kebabs from a commercial supplier sickened nine people, six of them children — Marler’s broader message is that vigilance cannot stop at the manufacturer. The risk never fully disappears — particularly when ground beef is served undercooked, when supply chains grow complex, or when vigilance fades.
William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others.
Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses. He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.
E. coli: Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. colioutbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $900 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation. Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products. The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s. We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera.
If you or a family member became ill with an E. coli infection or HUS after consuming food and you’re interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark E. coli attorneys for a free case evaluation.
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