Tips for a Safe Halloween
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has published a quick and easy Halloween safety check (this is a cute pdf) that will help consumers to avoid the problems that can happen on the trick-or-treat trail: (1) fires and burns, (2) accidents with motor vehicles, and (3) injuries from costumes.
Safety tips from the CPSC to help make this year’s holiday safe:
Decorations
- Never leave a burning candle unattended. Battery-operated flameless candles and other flameless lighting are safe alternatives to traditional candles in many situations.
- Keep candles and jack o’ lanterns away from landings and doorsteps, where costumes could brush against the flame.
- Remove obstacles from lawns, steps, and porches when expecting trick-or-treaters.
- When indoors, keep candles and jack o’ lanterns away from curtains, decorations, and other items that could ignite. Do not leave burning candles unattended.
- Whether indoors or outside, use only decorative light strands that have been tested for safety by a recognized testing laboratory. Check each set of lights, new or old, for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. Discard damaged sets.
- Don’t overload extension cords.
Costumes
- When purchasing costumes, masks, beards, and wigs, look for flame-resistant fabrics, such as nylon or polyester; or look for the label “Flame Resistant.” Flame-resistant fabrics will resist burning and should extinguish quickly. To reduce the risk of contact with candles and other fire sources, avoid costumes made with flimsy materials and outfits with big, baggy sleeves, large capes, or billowing skirts.
- Purchase or make costumes that are light colored, bright, and clearly visible to motorists.
- For greater visibility during dusk and darkness, decorate or trim costumes with reflective tape that will glow in the beam of a car’s headlights. Bags or sacks also should be light-colored or decorated with reflective tape. Reflective tape is usually available in hardware, bicycle, and sporting goods stores.
- Children should carry flashlights to be able to see and to be seen.
- To guard against trips and falls, costumes should fit well and not drag on the ground.
- Children should wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes. High heels are not a good idea.
- Tie hats and scarves securely to prevent them from slipping over children’s eyes and obstructing their vision.
- If your child wears a mask, make sure it fits securely, provides adequate ventilation, and has holes for eyes large enough to allow full vision.
- Swords, knives, and similar costume accessories should be made of soft, flexible material.
Treats
- Children should not eat any treats before an adult has examined them carefully for evidence of tampering.
- Carefully examine any toys or novelty items received by trick-or-treaters who are younger than 3 years of age. Do not allow young children to have any items that are small enough to present a choking hazard or that have small parts or components that could separate during use and present a choking hazard.
Salmonella Outbreak Prompts Papaya Recall, 3 Minnesota Illnesses
An outbreak of Salmonella Agona has been linked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to whole, fresh papayas imported from Mexico. A papaya recall has been issued by Agromod Produce, Inc., in McAllen, Texas. During an inspection, the FDA took samples of papaya from the Agromod facilities and from papayas being shipped to those facilities from the U.S. and Mexico border, and samples tested positive for the same strain–Salmonella Agona–that has been implicated in a multi-state outbreak.
Our law firm is the only one in Minnesota that handles Salmonella cases nationwide. About half of our practice is food poisoning cases. “It’s important for Salmonella victims to get the compensation they deserve,” said Fred Pritzker, one of the lead attorneys for our Salmonella cases. “By doing a good job for our clients, we let companies know they can’t get away with selling contaminated products.”
According to the FDA, 97 illnesses have been reported so far as part of this Salmonella Agona outbreak between January 1 and July 18, 2011. Ten of those illnesses have resulted in hospitalization. According to the FDA:
The number of ill persons identified in each state with the outbreak strain is as follows: Arkansas (1), Arizona (3), California (7), Colorado (1), Georgia (8), Illinois (17), Louisiana (2), Massachusetts (1), Minnesota (3), Missouri (3), Nebraska (2), Nevada (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (3), New York (6), Ohio (1), Oklahoma (1), Pennsylvania (1), Tennessee (1), Texas (25), Virginia (2), Washington (5), and Wisconsin (2).
The recalled papayas include Blondie, Yaya, Mañanita, and Tastylicious Brand papayas and only include those sold before July 23, 2011. Each brand has a distinct label, all of which are pictured to the right.
Consumers who have purchased papayas should check to see if they bear one of these Agromod brand stickers. Consumers who are unsure whether their papayas are included in this recall may contact the retailer where they purchased the fruit to see if it was distributed by Agromod. The FDA has advised retailers to discard any recalled papayas they may still have in stock, and has warned consumers that they should throw away and be sure not to consume any recalled papayas.
Salmonella Food Poisoning From Papayas: Information from Salmonella Lawyer
Consumers who think they may be sick with Salmonella poisoning should contact a health care provider, and also alert their local health department. Salmonella poisoning, or Salmonellosis, may at first cause flu-like symptoms such as nausea, severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. In severe cases, Salmonella can develop into a serious condition known as Reiter’s Syndrome.
For Salmonella food poisoning lawsuit information, contact the Salmonella lawyers at Pritzker Olsen. Set up a free consultation today.
Minnesota Cities: Twin Cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Moorhead, Mankato, Brainerd, Bloomington, Eagan, Eden Prarie, Apple Valley, Maple Grove, Edina, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Stillwater, Thief River Falls, Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Austin, Worthington, Woodbury, Maplewood, Golden Valley, Shoreview, Blaine, Anoka, South St. Paul, White Bear Lake, Roseville, St. Cloud, Arden Hills, Brooklyn Park, Forest Lake.
E. coli Prompts Nestle Cookie Dough Recall
The Minnesota Department of Health is investigating six cases of E. coli O157:H7 that it believes are part of a multistate outbreak associated with consumption of raw Nestle Toll House cookie dough.
According to a press release from the department, all six individuals became ill between May 3 and June 11. All six reported eating raw cookie dough of the Nestle’s brand.
State officials said the Minnesota cases range in age from 2 to 18 years of age; five (83 percent) are female. One was hospitalized. All have recovered.
The Minnesota news coincides with a Nestle recall of all varieites of Toll House cookie dough and with a warning from federal health authorities for consumers across the country not to eat or cook with the product.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the warning jointly. The agencies said the dough shouldn’t be used, even for baking. That’s because there’s a chance that in handling the product, a person could contract E. coli.
The FDA said in a news release that at least 66 people have been sickened in 28 states by the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 since March 2009. Twenty-five victims were hospitalized, with seven of them suffering hemolytic uremic syndrome HUS, a severe complication of E. coli that can result in kidney failure and is the leading cause of E. coli deaths. As of this time, no deaths have been reported nationwide as part of the outbreak, the FDA said.
The recall includes all varieties of Toll House refrigerated Cookie Bar Dough, Cookie Dough Tub, Cookie Dough Tube, Limited Edition Cookie Dough items, Seasonal Cookie Dough and Ultimates Cookie Bar Dough. For a complete list of packages, click here.
National Food Safety Law Firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys has begun its own investigation and believes more information will be forthcoming about cases in Minnesota and other states. The firm is one of the few in the nation that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation.
Over the years, Pritzker Olsen has collected millions for victims of food poisoning and currently represents E. coliO157:H7 victims, incuding sufferers of HUS. If you have recently been diagnosed withE. coli O157:H7, contact an E. coli lawyer at Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free). If you have recently eaten or cooked with Nestle cookie dough and believe you may have contracted E. coli, see a physician immediately and have the doctor report the findings to the state health department.
E. coli O157:H7 produces a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness, especially in young children and the elderly. Symptoms include cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, often with bloody stools.
Toll House Cookie Dough Outbreak in Minnesota: Lawyer for E. coli and HUS Victims
Our Minnesota law firm is investigating a multistate E. coli outbreak that has been associated with Nestle Toll House cookie dough. Our Minnesota lawyers are nationally recognized in the area of E. coli litigation. Our lawyers have appeared on CBS News, Fox’s “Geraldo Live,” KARE-TV, KSTP-TV, WCCO-TV and other programs discussing food litigation and food safety. If you or a loved one has contracted an E. coli infection after consuming Nestle Toll House cookie dough, please contact our law firm for Toll House lawsuit information at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.
Nestle USA has issued a recall of refrigerated Toll House cookie dough. The Toll House recall included the products listed at the end of this blog post.
At least six people in Minnsota ages 2 to 18 have been sickened in this Toll House cookie dough outbreak. This is just in from the Minnesota Department of Health:
E. coli O157:H7 cases linked to eating raw Toll House brand cookie dough
Consumers urged to discard or return Nestle’s cookie dough productsState health officials are investigating six cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Minnesota residents associated with eating a popular brand of raw, commercially packaged cookie dough.
Routine monitoring by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) found that the cases of illness were all caused by E. coli O157:H7 with the same DNA fingerprint. The individuals became ill between May 3 and June 11. All six reported eating raw cookie dough of the Nestle’s Toll House brand.
The cases range in age from 2 to 18 years of age; five (83 percent) are female. One was hospitalized. All have recovered.
Minnesota’s cases are linked by the same DNA fingerprint to cases of E. coli infection in at least 66 people in 28 states. In addition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the vast majority of the people interviewed reported eating raw cookie dough of the same brand.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CDC are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7. The FDA advises that if consumers have any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their home that they throw them away. Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces.
Toll House cookie cough products are typically stocked in the refrigerator cases of many grocery and warehouse- type stores in Minnesota and around the country. Over a dozen varieties are sold in plastic tubs, plastic tubes, and rectangular packages. Retailers, restaurateurs, and personnel at other food-service operations should not sell or serve any Nestle Toll House prepackaged, refrigerated cookie dough products subject to the recall.
It has not yet been determined how the E. coli bacteria got into the cookie dough, but the FDA is working with the Nestle company to answer that question. “Cookie dough, whether purchased in a tub from the store, or made at home from scratch, should not be eaten raw,” said Carlota Medus, epidemiologist in the foodborne illness unit with MDH.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is assisting with the ongoing investigation in Minnesota. MDA’s lab is testing product collected from retail stores and from ill consumers’ homes.
Symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 illness include stomach cramps, and diarrhea, often bloody diarrhea, with little or no fever. Most people recover in approximately 5 to 10 days. E. coli O157:H7 infections sometimes lead to a serious complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause kidney failure. People typically become ill two to five days after eating contaminated food.
Those who develop such symptoms after consuming this product should contact their health care provider immediately. E. coli disease should not be treated with antibiotics, which can cause additional complications.
Toll House Cookie Dough Outbreak:
Recalled Toll House Products
Consumer
Description Unit Code (UPC)
Nestle Toll House Cookie & Brownie Dough
COOKIE & BROWNIE DOUGH BAR
Chocolate Chip bar 16.5oz 0 50000 62231 3
Chocolate Chip bar 16.5oz 0 50000 11308 8
Chocolate Chunk bar 16.5oz 0 50000 62235 1
Walnut Chocolate Chip bar 16.5oz 0 50000 62233 7
Jumbo Chocolate Chip bar 16.5oz 0 50000 62237 5
Oatmeal Raisin bar 16.5oz 0 50000 06219 5
Sugar Cookies bar 16.5oz 0 50000 62244 3
Sugar Cookies bar 16.5oz 0 50000 12178 6
Mini Chocolate Chip bar 16.5oz 0 50000 62242 9
Mini Chocolate Chip bar 16.5oz 0 50000 12188 5
Mini Brownie Bites bar 16oz 0 50000 62227 6
Fudgy Brownie With Peanut Butter Filling 19oz 0 50000 00820 9
COOKIE DOUGH TUB
Chocolate Chip tub 40oz 0 50000 62246 7
Chocolate Chip tub 80oz (5 lb) 0 50000 00934 3
Sugar tub 40oz. 0 50000 62253 5
Gingerbread tub 40oz 0 50000 44060 3
Peanut Butter tub 40oz 0 50000 44062 7
TUBE (CHUB) DOUGH
Chocolate Chip tube 16.5oz 0 50000 62239 9
Chocolate Chip tube 32oz 0 50000 00400 3
ULTIMATES COOKIE BAR DOUGH
Ultimates Peanut Butter Cups, Chips & Chocolate
Chunks bar 16oz 0 50000 00922 0
Ultimates White Chip Macadamia Nut bar 16oz 0 50000 00923 7
Ultimates Chocolate Chip & Chunks with Pecans bar 16oz 0 50000 00925 1
Ultimates Chocolate Chip Lovers 16oz 0 50000 00926 8
Ultimates Turtles bar 16oz 0 50000 00928 2
Ultimates Peanut Butter Lovers bar 16oz 0 50000 00507 9
Ultimates Chocolate Chip with Caramel Filling bar 16oz 0 50000 44066 5
Ultimates Chocolate Chip with Chocolate Filling bar 16oz 0 50000 44069 6
SEASONAL COOKIE & BROWNIE DOUGH
Valentine Hearts Sugar Cookie Shapes 15.5oz 0 50000 12009 3
Valentine Swirled Chocolate Chip bar 16oz 0 50000 00931 2
Fudgy Brownies With Raspberry Filling 19oz 0 50000 20090 0
Easter Eggs Sugar Cookie Shapes 15.5oz 0 50000 52009 1
Easter Swirled Chocolate Chip bar 16oz 0 50000 00932 9
Easter Swirled Mini Brownie Bites bar 18 oz 0 50000 20093 1
Red, White & Blue Swirled Choc Chip bar 16oz 0 50000 00937 4
Halloween Pumpkin Pals Sugar Cookies 13.5oz 0 50000 06217 1
Halloween Swirled Chocolate Chip bar 16oz 0 50000 00929 9
Halloween Swirled Fudgy Brownies bar 18oz 0 50000 00088 3
Christmas Shapes Sugar Cookies 15.5oz 0 50000 00505 5
Christmas Swirled Chocolate Chip bar 16oz 0 50000 00930 5
Christmas Swirled Fudgy Brownies bar 18oz 0 50000 00089 0
Limited Edition Mint Swirled Chocolate Chip 16oz 0 50000 00827 8
Discontinued Varieties
Valentine Hearts Sugar Cookies 13.5oz 0 50000 44056 6
Easter Brownie Bar 18oz 0 50000 00518 5
Easter Bunnies Sugar Cookies 13.5oz 0 50000 44058 0
Halloween Sugar Shapes 15.5oz 0 50000 00829 2
Christmas Sugar Cookie Tube 16oz 0 50000 00448 5
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie Tub 48 oz. 0 50000 62229 0
Food Safety Reform Threatened by Greed
Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on a proposed food safety bill that will likely be moving through Congress this summer. The proposed legislation, still in draft form, contains requirements that all food manufacturers write and carry out safety plans, pay an annual registration fee of $1,000 to the Food and Drug Administration to fund increased inspections, and keep track of the distribution of all food products.
New FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg testified that this bill is “a major step in the right direction.” One would think that after the string of national Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks over the past year anyone could realize our nation’s food safety system needed to be reformed. Unfortunately, that apparently is not the case.
Pamela G. Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association spoke at the hearing against a plan to charge food makers $1,000 per facility per year to pay for increased inspections, and was skeptical that the proposed changes would truly be beneficial.
Unfortunately for Ms. Bailey, consumers understand that a safety system largely based on industry self-regulation is simply not working. The fox has guarded the henhouse for too long, and now is the time for real action.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that last year alone there were nearly 1.4 million cases of Salmonella, causing 415 deaths and costing our nation over $2.6 billion. Similarly, last year there was over 73,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7, including 38 deaths, and costing nearly $500 million. Just recently the Salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter produced by the Peanut Corporation of America is estimated to have cost over $1 billion, and taken at least nine lives.
Americans deserve much better. If even a tiny fraction of foodborne illness cases can be eliminated, the costs of increased inspections will be returned many times over, not just in money, but in lives.
History is not on the industry’s side in this debate. It has almost universally opposed increased regulation going all the way back to the historic Meat Inspection Act of 1906. The wretched conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry first described in The Jungle made the public demand safer food over one hundred years ago, and was the catalyst for reform then. Once again, we must let industry and our elected officials know that reform is needed to reduce the prevalence of foodborne illness.
Undoubtedly reform is needed. Increased inspections and traceability is a good start. For the food industry to claim that a $1,000 per facility fee to improve and increase inspections is too great is simply foolish. I wonder if Ms. Bailey would be willing to tell the families of those killed by foodborne illness that $1,000 a year was too much to pay to prevent the loss of a family member’s life?
The writer, Mr. Pritzker, is founder and president of PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a national food safety and food poisoning law firm that has collected millions for victims of food poisoning. PritzkerOlsen has years of experience and proven success representing the families and victims of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Listeria, Botulism and other foodborne disease.
Report Card: Going Nowhere Fast on Food Safety
A unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gathers data each year from 10 states to track the frequency of E. coli O157:H7 and other foodborne illnesses. National food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker has written an editorial, suggesting that problems run deeper than saying the nation has reached a plateau in controlling the spread of deadly pathogens in our food. Pritzker is founder and president of Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, a firm that is involved in practically every major foodborne illness outbreak and one that is dedicated to educating the public about food safety issues and advocating for badly needed food safety legislation. To contact a food poisoning lawyer at the firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or write to us online for a free case consultation.
The Federal government’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) recently released preliminary data about the frequency of certain foodborne illnesses in 10 monitoring states for the year 2008. This is the equivalent of the government’s report card for food safety. The scores, as they say, leave much room for improvement.
The “take away” point from this data is that “progress toward the national health objectives [for foodborne pathogens] has plateaued, suggesting that fundamental problems with bacterial and parasitic contamination are not being resolved.” My comment [and their goal] is simply “No Shit.”
Stripped of its “journal speak,” the data shows that after making progress for a few years, efforts to safeguard our food have fallen flat: “The lack of recent progress toward the national health objective targets and the occurrence of large multistate outbreaks points to gaps in the current food safety system and the need to continue to develop and evaluate food safety practices as food moves from the farm to the table.”
A closer reading of the data actually points to more serious problems. For example, in just one year (from 2007 to 2008), test samples of ground beef yielding E. coli O157:H7 nearly doubled from 0.24% to 0.47%. This is really quite shocking.
It was also interesting to note that only 25.7% of E. coli O157:H7 infections and 7.4% of Salmonella cases are associated with outbreaks. In other words, in the vast majority of human illness associated with these two pathogens, the source is never identified.
In a way, this is even more shocking. It shows we’re still very inadequate when it comes to testing for and analyzing foodborne pathogens – in other words, what we don’t know will hurt us.
