FDA Reports 12% of U.S. Spice Imports Contaminated With Insect Parts And Rodent Hairs…What’s In Your Salad?

By on October 30, 2013

New York Times reporter Gardiner Harris reported on October 30, 2013 that an FDA study found that about 12 percent of spices brought to the United States are contaminated with insect parts, whole insects, rodent hairs and other things, based upon an analysis of spice imports.

According to FDA officials, it is unclear what share of the nearly 1.2 million annual salmonella illnesses in the United States result from consuming contaminated spices.  Less  than 2,000 people had their illnesses definitively tied to contaminated spices from 1973 to 2010, and most people eat spices in small quantities.   But because people often fail to remember eating spices when asked what foods might have sickened them, FDA officials speculated that problems related to spices may be under-reported.  The Scientific literature has associated foodborne illness outbreaks from microbial contaminants in spices.

According to the FDA, spice imports from Mexico and India have been found to have the highest rate of contamination. Nearly one-quarter of the spices, oils and food colorings used in the United States comes from India. However, reports have associated salmonella outbreaks with spices associated with other spice exporters as well, including Italy. The spices under scrutiny include widely sold, everyday spices, including oregano and basil, among many others. 

"The American Spice Trade Association, which is dedicated to ensuring the supply of clean, safe spice to the American public, had not yet seen the FDA report and therefore could not comment.  However, spice manufacturers have argued in the past that food manufacturers often treat imported spices before marketing them. Therefore,  findings of contamination levels in FDA’s import screening program do not necessarily mean that spices sold to consumers are dangerous.

The adverse publicity facing the spice industry is endemic of much greater litigation risks to the food industry as a whole.  “The New Lawsuit Ecosystem” (10/13), a report issued by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, identifies food class action litigation as an emerging liability threat to American business.

The Executive Summary states that the report describes the "lawsuit ‘ecosystem’  for the areas of litigation abuse of most concern to the business community….Defending these lawsuits drains millions of dollars from businesses that could be spent spurring business expansion and creating new jobs with few countervailing benefits.”  Although the emphasis of the discussion concerns class action litigation alleging trivial violations of federal regulations, there is no question that food poisoning claims have riveted media and public attention as well.  Some plaintiff lawyers have devoted their entire practice to the prosecution of food poisoning claims.  

Food poisoning litigation has also become big business for companies that host legal conferences.  An upcoming conference in San Francisco, sponsored by the American Conference Institute, is titled "Food Borne Illness Litigation: Advanced strategies for Defending and Managing High Profile Food Contamination Claims".  An advertisement for the conference leads with the following:

Each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases.”

– 2011 Estimates from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention

There is no question – as the food supply becomes more global, the chance of contamination increases. The latest food outbreaks come from non-traditional pathogens and foods that came from overseas – the number of affected people is still unknown. In addition, the increasing reliance on international suppliers has led to a host of supply chain food safety issues that are increasingly difficult to monitor and combat.

The defense bar is also mobilizing considerable resources and effort to assist companies targeted by plaintiff lawyers. One prominent defense firm is urging its clients to be prepared by assembling a litigation response team to develop a "thorough traceback program through which food items can be traced back to their origins".  This firm cautions that defending these cases is not for amateurs, but requires the "coordination of expedited investigation and documentation, evidence location and preservation, supplier agreements and indemnification commitments, selection of and consultation with (often) a constellation of experts…."  

Any litigation arising from Mr. Harris’ story in the New York Times about contaminated imported spices should be recognized for what it really is…..the tip of an enormous iceberg that has been heading toward the food industry for some time. 

 

Filed under American Spice Trade Association, Chamber, FDA, Food, Food & Drug Administration, insect parts, Institute, Legal, Reform', rodent hairs, salmonella, spice, spice contamination, The New Lawsuit Ecosystem, whole insects Tagged with

Hydraulic Fracturing Risks and Opportunities

By on April 19, 2012

On April 18, 2012, Winston & Strawn and the Environmental Law Institute co-hosted an informative seminar on, “Hydraulic Fracturing Risks and Opportunities: Regulator, NGO, Industry and Investor Perspectives,” in New York City. The meeting was expertly chaired by May Wall, a partner in the law firm’s Environmental Law Department in Washington, D.C. The panelists included Kate Sinding, an NRDC Senior Attorney and Deputy Director of NRDC’s New York Urban Program; John Imse, a principal at Environ in Denver, who advises clients in the oil and gas industry; Lawrence A. Wilkinson, an analyst with Standard & Poor’s Oil & Gas Team; and Carol P. Collier, the Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission. All four speakers were knowledgeable, informative and articulate. Unfortunately, there is insufficient space here to summarize all of the speakers’ discussion points.

John Imse emphasized how horizontal drilling evolved from the development of  “game-changing technology,” which has spurred significant changes in the gas exploration industry. As a result of new technology, there may be multiple horizontal wells drilled and developed from a single pad location – four to eight wells from a single drilling pad is not uncommon. Each well may have from as few as four to as many as twenty fracturing intervals. According to Imse, “these are not your wildcat wells of the early twentieth century,” but represent highly sophisticated technology.

Imse also discussed the evolving environmental consciousness of the gas exploration industry. He emphasized that “protective steel casing” and “a good cement job” is critical to a well’s success. Contrasting prior poor practices with current practices, Imse described the construction of drilling pads as “highly engineered sites” with liners and berms for spill control, and structural panels on working surfaces to protect the integrity of the liner. He emphasized the evolving consciousness concerning materials management, including the handling of chemicals in large volume containers; spill containment and secondary containment; and on-site 24/7 spill response.

To date, thirteen states have enacted statues requiring disclosure of fracking chemicals used by industry. These thirteen states account for 90% of current gas drilling, according to Imse. In response to pressure by the public and environmentalists, the additives used in fracking have evolved to “more green and more benign components.” For example, Halliburton is increasingly using guar-based gels and food grade mineral oil carriers, and less diesel for fracking.

There are a number of new web-based resources available to the industry. For example, the University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center has assembled a compilation of Best Management Practices, which Imse strongly recommends as a reference.

Carol R. Collier, the Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission, discussed the importance of the Delaware River Basin to New York City, which extracts 8.7 billion gallons of water per day. Collier’s “bosses” are the governors of the four states that comprise the Delaware River Basin – Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware. Significant portions of Marcellus Shale underlie portions of the Delaware River Basin. Water withdrawal from the Delaware River Basin is a significant concern. In addition to the 100,000-500,000 gallons of water extracted during the drilling of the well, another 5,000,000 gallons of water is withdrawn during the production life of each well.

Kate Sinding, a Senior Attorney with NRDC, discussed the highly charged political backdrop to the fracking controversy. According to Sinding, experiences in Pennsylvania over the past three to four years have given rise to much of the current environmental debate. Fracking has challenged the long held assumption that natural gas is a more environmentally benign fuel than coal, an assumption that is now coming under fire. Sinding expressed concern about environmental issues that she believed were “not amenable to best practices.” 

 

Filed under Delaware River Water Basin" "horizontal drilling" "Marcellus Shale", Environ, Environmental, Hydraulic Fracking, Institute, Law, NRDC, Oil & Gas Tagged with