CDC Believes That Risks Associated with Leafy Greens Have Been on the Rise
Following the high-profile leafy greens E. coli outbreaks in 2006, CDC started studying the trends. It concluded that “during 1996 2005 leafy green consumption increased 9% and leafy green-associated outbreaks increased 39%,” according to a recent article on ScienceDaily. Therefore even taking into account the increase in leafy greens consumption, associated food-borne outbreaks are on the rise. This is consistent with general trends, as indicated in my recent magazine article in Cooperative Grocers.
Although there is no way to eliminate risk, grocers, restaurants, and produce suppliers should conduct ongoing reviews of their food safety, audit, supplier, and insurance programs to ensure that everything that can be done is being done to mitigate or shift risk.
Importance of Experts At Outset of Outbreak
A few weeks ago, I gave a presentation at a CLE seminar about how to use and challenge expert witnesses in a food case. One of the interesting discussions that occurred during my talk was about the importance of retention of experts at an early stage, even before health department officials finalize their findings.
Given the limited resources of most state and local health departments, I have always believed there is little to lose by offering the assistance of credible and known epidemiologists, microbiologists, etc. Additional resources in an outbreak investigation (and, therefore, additional investigation) can mean the difference between the health department pointing at your client and the health department pointing at another source. Several other defense lawyers, and, surprisingly, state health department officials, agreed. Examples of successful early intervention were elicited.
FSIS to Start Posting Plant Testing Data
I wrote earlier about Dr. David Goldman's talk at the ACI Food-Borne Illness Litigation conference and his comments regarding supermarkets. Another significant issue concerns posting by FSIS of microbiological testing results from meat and poultry plants on its Web site.
Continue Reading...Loyalty Cards and Product Recalls
Last week, a supermarket chain, Wegmans, learned that an employee working in the produce department contracted Hepatitis A. Like many supermarket chains, Wegmans, based in Rochester, New York, maintains a customer loyalty card system. According to the Buffalo News, , “the store plans an outreach to its customers they know purchased potentially affected produce by using Shoppers Club data to contact them via automated telephone calls.”
Loyalty cards were not designed to assist grocers in providing recall and food safety information. Many companies, in fact, face hardware and software problems in using their loyalty card databases to notify customers about issues with products purchased with the card. Many grocers do not require complete or accurate contact information. Privacy concerns are also a factor. A grocer does not know when it contacts a customer whether it is speaking to the customer or to someone else in the household. It is not hard to imagine a situation in which a household member does not want purchases (e.g., birth control, alcohol, or tobacco) or health conditions known to others in the household.
On the other hand, some believe that customers expect grocers to use their loyalty card databases for just this purpose. Traditional means of recall notice--press releases, signage in the stores, etc.--may not be as rapid as a phone call or email. Timing can make the difference between recalled food being consumed or not.
No matter whether grocers follow Wegmans’ policy of personal notification, a good business practice (and litigation avoidance tactic) may be for a grocer to disclose clearly to customers its policy about using the loyalty card information to provide notice of product safety issues. For grocers who use the database to phone or email consumers, a clear policy will avoid the golden rule that “no good deed goes unpunished.” For grocers for whom personal recall or safety notices are impractical or constitute privacy violations, a clear policy will create clear expectations and may mitigate against litigation.
