Salmonella Outbreak Keeps Local Lawyer Busy
Source of Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29145773/
Lawyer
Fields Dozens Of Questions Daily
WPBF-TV
updated 7:46 a.m. PT, Thurs.,
Feb. 12, 2009
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Buying something from a
vending machine is a choice we make in seconds, often without thinking.
But
these days people are pondering peanuts as they hit
vending machines and convenience stores. And with a national salmonella
outbreak concerning peanut products, it's probably a good thing.
"Every
time we go in there, there was cockroaches,"
said a former worker from the Peanut Corporation of America who
did not want to be identified. She is talking about conditions at the
facility in Georgia.
They are conditions that are now being blamed for sickening hundreds
nationwide.
"People get
diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain," said West Palm Beach infectious disease
specialist Dr. Olayemi Osiyemi.
Osiyemi has
not yet seen any patients get sick locally from this outbreak. But with more
than 1,800 recalled items, from brownies to snack bars to ice cream, it's
still possible.
"In
some cases it can advance to where people get really sick and the bacteria
gets into the blood and you have to be in the hospital," said Osiyemi.
This
is much different than the Peter Pan salmonella outbreak a few years back,
explained attorney Brian Smith, and that's because there's no jar left
behind. Many of the contaminated products are sold in vending machines or
convenience stores, so someone could throw away the wrapper and have no idea
of what made them sick.
"There
are some people who've said, 'I've bought a whole box of these crackers from
Costco or Sam's Club,' and so we have some product to be tested," Smith
told WPBF News 25's Cathleen O'Toole.
Smith
is fielding questions from hundreds of consumers and already has two dozen
clients from this outbreak.
He
feels the conditions described at this facility send a distressing signal
about American food safety.
"Filthy,
putrid are some of the words being used to describe it," said Smith.
"So it is extremely concerning to me. I know that Congress is looking at
it and I think there will be some revamping of the (Food and Drug
Administration) because of it."
While
the government tries to crack this contamination case, there are still homes
where the peanut is king.
"I
actually bought peanut butter for my daughter a week ago," said Osiyemi, laughing.
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