Personal Injury

February 21, 2020

Raw milk products are a safety concern for consumers, according to a recent study. Cheese made with unpasteurized milk is a safety concern because of possible contamination with foodborne pathogens, the study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, and the Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology found. Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 have been the cause of several outbreaks and recalls linked…

Food Safety News

Source of E. coli increase in EU being investigated

By News Desk

February 21, 2020

A foodborne source is one route being investigated as part of an increase of E. coli in Europe. Between 2017 and 2019, the National Reference Centre for multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacteria and German health officials detected an increase in oxacillinase-244 (OXA-244)-producing E. coli. European authorities said the increase in cases of a difficult-to-detect carbapenemase (OXA-244) in a species such as E. coli that causes community-acquired infections is of concern. They added there is a risk transmission…

Food Safety News

Silani brand mozzarella balls recalled because of E. coli concerns

By News Desk

February 20, 2020

Silani Sweet Cheese Ltd. has recalled mozzarella balls because they are potentially contaminated with E. coli. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) advisory, posted Feb. 14, says the product was distributed to retail stores nationwide. Recalled product: Brand Name Common Name Size UPC Code(s) on Product Silani Mozzarella Ball 260 g 0 65052 51369 4 Best Before: 2021.01.08 Anyone who thinks they became sick from consuming a recalled product should call a doctor. Check to…

Personal Injury Law Journal

JUUL Faces New Lawsuit Over Marketing Tactics

By Domenic B. Sanginiti, Jr.

February 20, 2020

Marketing to youth has long been part of the tobacco industry’s strategy to keep a steady influx of customers. However, since the Joe Camel lawsuit in 1997, tobacco companies have increasingly been under fire for targeting underage consumers. Most disavow these intentions, but from time to time, a company will draw attention to these kinds of tactics. Most recently, the vaping pioneer, JUUL, has been pinpointed. Despite assertions that they had never marketed their products…

Food Poison Journal

Marler Clark retained in Jimmy John’s E. coli Outbreak – Again

By Bill Marler

February 20, 2020

Sprouts Unlimited has initiated a recall of clover sprouts because of possible E. coli O103 contamination. The clover sprouts were distributed to Hy Vee Food stores, Fareway Food Stores and used by Jimmy John’s restaurants in Iowa. “Sprouts Unlimited Inc. became aware of the potential contamination after receiving information from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, Des Moines, IA, that a cluster of E. coli O103 illnesses epidemiologically linked to clover sprouts from Sprouts Unlimited Inc.,” according to the…

Zachar Law Blog

Why does an insurance company want to talk to me immediately following a car accident? What are they trying to do?

By Chris Zachar

February 20, 2020

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When an accident occurs, insurance companies go into protection mode. They have one of two goals: Pay you nothing, or Pay you as little as possible. Most often, given the circumstances of the accident, they will not be able to accomplish their first goal (pay you nothing). As such, they focus on the second goal (pay you as little as possible). How can an insurance company accomplish this? The easiest way is for the insurance…

Illinois Workers Compensation Law Blog

Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act And Workers Comp

By Mike Helfand

February 20, 2020

I’ve kept this blog going for over ten years because I like helping the general public get educated on Illinois workers’ compensation laws. One thing I try to do is not give cookie cutter posts, but instead raise issues that affect real people, even if they aren’t what most readers are thinking about. Sometimes you don’t know your rights until you are alerted to them. So today I want to write about the Illinois Biometric…

Napoli Shkolnik Blog

Hospital Infection Kills Infant Heart Patient

By Napoli Shkolnik

February 20, 2020

Baby Elizabeth Hutt survived multiple open heart surgeries during her first six months of life, but she could not survive an Aspergillus Mold infection she contracted in a hospital emergency room. A subsequent hospital investigation determined that the Aspergillus Mold spores came from the hospital’s HVAC unit. Fourteen children developed the same infection beginning in……

Food Safety News

Brashears begins her second year as deputy undersecretary with new plan for FSIS

By Dan Flynn

February 20, 2020

01-29-19 Sonny Perdue swears in Mindy Brashears as deputy — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, right, swears in Mindy Brashears, left, as USDA's deputy under secretary for food safety on Jan. 29, 2019. *Photo courtesy of USDA*

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service rolled out a new annual plan at a meeting in Austin with small meat and poultry operators. Mindy Brashears, USDA’s deputy undersecretary for food safety, described a sort of stream of consciousness in producing the new plan. “I sat down in December, and I just started writing, and at the end of the day, I had 18 pages and an appendix,” Brashears told the FSIS listening redoubtable for small…

Food Safety News

FSA surveys show level of antimicrobial resistant bacteria on UK chicken

By Joe Whitworth

February 20, 2020

There has been a decline of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli but not Campylobacter in chicken based on surveys by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Two annual surveys tested fresh chicken sold in the United Kingdom, with one looking at certain antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) E. coli, and the other at AMR Campylobacter. Results are from 2017 to 2018. A previous study looked at beef and pork. Use of antibiotics is important in treating infections and preventing disease in…