Food/Drink Lawyer Interviews

Barrie, ON: Diamond Pet Food and its distributor Costco is now paying out claims to Canadians whose pets required screening for salmonella poisoning or treatment for salmonella infection, or died after consuming certain Diamond Pet Foods in 2011 and 2012.

Houston, TX On April 20, 2015, Blue Bell Creameries voluntarily recalled all of the products made at its three plants in the US because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, a potentially deadly foodborne pathogen the company detected in samples of its Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream produced between March 17, 2015 and March 27, 2015.

Seattle, WA Attorney Bill Marler has been a pioneer in the food safety and litigation business for 22 years. He’s represented thousands of food poisoning victims, including more than 100 people sickened by salmonella-tainted Peter Pan peanut butter produced by food manufacturer ConAgra in 2007.

Minneapolis, MN American corn farmers could be waiting a long time for the courts to resolve their claim that giant Swiss agribusiness company, Syngenta, misrepresented the facts when its CEO said in 2012 that Chinese import approval for Syngenta’s genetically modified corn, known as Agrisure Viptera MIR 162, was imminent.

Houston, TX As the effects of the recent listeria outbreak linked to the recent cantaloupe recall continue to spread, more reports of illness and death are coming in, including reports of health effects suffered by pregnant women. Aimee Robert, attorney with Johnson Law Group, says this listeria outbreak, which led to a recall on cantaloupe, is particularly dangerous.

Dallas, TX Safeway is the target of a national class-action suit alleging it has failed its duty to notify customers when they have bought recalled food items. "All their competitors make the effort to contact customers," says Steve Gardner, the chief litigator for the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). "Safeway just doesn?t make an effort to do it.

San Diego, CA: Nutella, the hazelnut and chocolate spread created by an Italian company and marketed to North Americans, is the target of a consumer fraud lawsuit ignited by a Mom from California after she began to doubt its claims as a healthy and nutritious food. According to the statement of claim, Athena Hohenberg was shocked to hear that Nutella was, in fact, little different than feeding candy to her four-year-old.

Chicago, IL Attorney Ken Moll thinks it is high time the egg farms of America cleaned up for good. "Salmonella enteritis is the leading cause of foodborne illness in this country," says Moll. "And most of those cases from shell eggs. Farmers have not done a good job of self-policing."

Independence, MO Chicago attorney Ken McClain says he doesn't mind at all if you refer to him as the Popcorn Lung Lawyer. "I don't mind if people say that," says McClain whose has been litigating against makers and suppliers of a butter flavoring product called diacetyl since 2002. "It's been very rewarding. We've done a lot of good and managed to get the diacetyl out of microwave popcorn."

Roanoke, WV In January 2009 federal officials linked products manufactured by The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) to the Salmonella foodborne illness outbreak that sickened 677 people in 45 states and killed nine since early September 2008. Attorney Ron Simon of Simon and Luke has been in negotiations on behalf of his clients since April. "The court has finally approved our settlement process," says Simon. "If you qualify you are entitled to part of this $12 million without having to file a lawsuit."