Maryland Accident Law Blog

Kraft Foods announced a U.S. recall of its Baker’s Premium White Chocolate Baking Squares. The packaged foods maker cited concerns of possible Salmonella bacteria contamination.

The products affected include the UPC Code 0043000252200 and the best-when-used by dates of:

• 31 MAR 2008 XCZ
• 01 APR 2008 XCZ
• 02 APR 2008 XCZ
• 03 APR 2008 XCZ

The products were distributed across the U.S. The possibility of Salmonella contamination was discovered after the Food and Drug Administration conducted tests and noticed that some of the chocolate packages had Salmonella. Kraft says it is taking aggressive action to discover the source o the problem.

Salmonella

Salmonella is a bacteria that causes infections. Salmonella usually leads to diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps—and in people with a weakened immune system—death. Salmonella is foodborne, and can be spread via people eating contaminated food products.

Beef, milk, poultry, and eggs have been known to contain salmonella. Raw foods can contain salmonella, but cooking a contaminated food properly can kill the salmonella. A food item can also be contaminated with salmonella if the person that prepared their food did not wash their hands after going to the bathroom or already has salmonella and touches the food with their hands.

Nearly 40,000 salmonellosis cases are reported in the U.S. annually. Some 600 people die from salmonella every year. The elderly, young children, and those with weaker immune systems are most likely to contract salmonellosis.

The CDC offers consumers what they can do to avoid salmonella contamination:

• Cook poultry, ground beef, and eggs thoroughly before eating. Do not eat or drink foods containing raw eggs, or raw unpasteurized milk.
• If you are served undercooked meat, poultry or eggs in a restaurant, don’t hesitate to send it back to the kitchen for further cooking.
• Wash hands, kitchen work surfaces, and utensils with soap and water immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry.
• Be particularly careful with foods prepared for infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised.
• Wash hands with soap after handling reptiles or birds, or after contact with pet feces.
• Avoid direct or even indirect contact between reptiles (turtles, iguanas, other lizards, snakes) and infants or immunocompromised persons.
• Don’t work with raw poultry or meat, and an infant (e.g., feed, change diaper) at the same time.

• Mother’s milk is the safest food for young infants. Breast-feeding prevents salmonellosis and many other health problems.

Food distributors, producers, and workers are legally obligated to ensure that their food products are not a health threat to consumers. When this obligation is not met, a person who becomes sick, injured, or dies because of the contaminated food product may have grounds to file a products liability claim or lawsuit.

Other common foodborne illnesses that can lead to a products liability case if the contamination is caused by negligence:

• E.coli
• Food poisoning
Kraft recalls white chocolate, CNN.com, October 4, 2007
Kraft Foods Recals Baker’s Premium White Chocolate Baking Squares Because of Possible Health Risk, Kraft.com, October 3, 2007
Salmonellosis, CDC.gov

Related Web Resources:

What are Salmonella?, Salmonella.org

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A couple with two children is suing McDonald’s and two Missouri operators for personal injury. They say that they were mislead about the ingredients used to make hash browns and French fries, which resulted in their two children—who have food allergies—from becoming injured.

Mekenzie Miller, 7, and Macauley Miller, 4, experienced stomach problems and other emotional and physical illnesses because they ate McDonald’s French fries, which contains casein and wheat.

Their parents, Frank and Beth Miller, say that they checked the list of ingredients that McDonald’s uses to make French fries prior to letting their children eat them. Neither casein or wheat were on the list. Mekenzie has celiac disease, which is an allergy to wheat and gluten products. Macauley is autistic. Milk, gluten, and wheat can exacerbate his behavioral issues. His parents say that eating the fries set back Macauley’s behavioral therapy.

The lawsuits are being filed against McDonald’s along with 16 other injury cases in Florida. Another federal class action suit has also been filed.

Restaurants, food manufacturers, and food retailers have a responsibility to ensure that the food that they offer consumers will not cause them to become ill or die. A food provider also must ensure that consumers are warned of any potential causes of injury or illness. Failure to do so can be grounds for a products liability claim or lawsuit against any negligent parties.

The FDA mandates that all food producers have to make sure that the food they produce and/or sell is correctly labeled and includes a proper list of nutritional content and ingredients. Any expiration date must be properly listed. All food must not contain any harmful bacteria, toxic substances, or foreign objects inside them.

If you or someone you love has become ill or sustained injuries because of a harmful ingredient in a food item or because the food item was improperly processed, improperly prepared, incorrectly labeled, or contained a harmful substance in it, you should speak with a personal injury lawyer who is experienced in handling products liability cases.

O’Fallon, Mo., couple sue McDonald’s over ingredients in fries, STltoday.com, September 25, 2007

Related Web Resources:

McDonald’s Lawsuit Timeline, Compassionate Spirit

McDonald’s

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The MRL/Welch Allyn AED 20 Automatic External Defibrillators are being recalled. The medical devices are used by medical and emergency personnel to treat pediatric and adult patients that have suffered heart attacks.

Welch Allyn Protocol, Inc. announced the recall. It said that the defibrillators might display a “Defib Comm” error message that would result in the device’s terminal failure to function properly and give an unconscious patient the proper electric shock needed to restore normal heart rhythm.

The FDA is calling this a Class I recall, which is the most serious level of recall and indicates that the product defect could cause wrongful death or serious injury. Medical and emergency personnel are being told to stop using the AED 20 Automatic External Defibrillators right away.

This is not the first recall initiated by Welch Allyn. In June, 580 medical devices were recalled because the internal electrical connection could potentially fail. 30 cases reported the malfunction, which delayed patients’ resuscitation.

If you or someone you love is seriously injured because of a defective medical device, you should speak with a products liability attorney right away.

The manufacturers of medical devices are legally responsible for making sure that their products are safe for use. They have to notify consumers of any possible risks that can result in injury or death. If the manufacturer fails to do so, they can be held liable for any injuries and wrongful deaths. The re-sellers and distributors of defective medical devices can also be held legally responsible.

Every year, thousands of people in the United States are affected by a defective medical device—either through injury, misdiagnosis, medical error, or wrongful death. Aside from this current recall, over 236,000 defective defibrillators have been recalled in the past two years.

Welch Allyn Defibrillators that are part of the recall:

RL/Welch Allyn AED 20 Automatic External Defibrillators, serial numbers between 205787 and 207509

Other defibrillators that have been recalled include defibrillators by Guidant, Medtronic, and St. Jude.

Class I Recall Issued for Welch Allyn Defibrillators, News Inferno, September 18, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Food and Drug Administration

Welch Allyn

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