Fred Pritzker, Food Safety Lawyer, Calls for Food Safety Disclosure Laws Following American Foods Group, LLC Recently Announced E. coli O157:H7 Recall
Minneapolis, MN (PRWEB) November 29, 2007 -- So far this year over 28 million pounds of beef products have been recalled due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. Most recently, American Foods Group, LLC, a Green Bay, Wisconsin firm, recalled 48 tons of ground beef products.
Fred Pritzker, a leading food safety lawyer, believes more information about recalls and the companies involved in them should be readily available to consumers. "It is extremely difficult for the average consumer to learn anything about a company's E. coli O157:H7 track record and just as hard to find out if recalled hamburger made its way into the consumer's household (much less the mouths of his/her loved ones)," states Pritzker. "That's because the labels on most ground beef products do not disclose the identity of the company that produced it. In other words, even if a consumer wanted to avoid products from a company that consistently produced hamburger laced with E. coli O157:H7, there is no way to find out."
Pritzker continues, "There is simply no readily accessible source of information, other than digging through old press releases from the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), about a meat producer's prior safety record. Even that won't tell you how many people were sickened in prior outbreaks, the cause of the outbreaks, what corrective action, if any, was taken, and what fines or penalties were levied."
According to Pritzker, consumers do not have important information about recalls because no law requires adequate labeling and no government agency is required to produce readily accessible information that allows consumers to make informed choices.
To remedy this situation, Pritzker recommends a two-pronged approach: 1) enact a federal law requiring every meat package to identify the name of the company that produced it and the date on which it was produced and 2) have a federally-funded web site that lists data about each federally inspected producer including the company's past history of recalls, amount of product recalled, the number of people injured or killed in past foodborne illness outbreaks and other information that allows for informed consumer choice.
Fred Pritzker, is the founding partner of Pritzker | Ruohonen & Associates, P.A., one of America's leading food safety law firms. He practices in Minnesota and represents survivors of foodborne illness throughout the United States. He may be reached toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or through the firm's web site at http://www.pritzkerlaw.com
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