MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the midst of an active cantaloupe Listeria outbreak in Colorado, Texas and Nebraska, national food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker is urging public health officials to think of consumers first when investigating where the contaminated fruit is coming from.
Thus far, Pritzker said, doctors and scientists with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment are to be commended for their dedicated work in identifying cantaloupe as the likely cause for an outbreak that has killed one person and sickened at least eight others in Colorado. Two Texas Listeria cases and one from Nebraska also have been tied to the outbreak.
Now additional work must be done with assistance from federal agencies to trace where the contaminated melon is coming from. "The information should be released as quickly as humanly possible to protect others from contracting this dangerous disease,'' said Pritzker, founder and president of Pritzker Olsen Attorneys.
He said food tracebacks in outbreaks of listeriosis are made more difficult by the fact that people can consume a contaminated product and not experience illness symptoms for 11 to 70 days. The longer the so-called "incubation period,'' the more difficult it is for a victim to remember what they ate in the preceding weeks and days, he said.
Pritzker said there have been instances in recent years where public health officials have acted too slowly in recalling food they suspect is the cause of an outbreak out of deference to food companies who resist being linked to an outbreak. That should never happen.
"The system must put consumers first,'' Pritzker said.
Pritzker said that if an individual has been infected with Listeria, a lawyer can help them understand their legal rights and remedies. A good Listeria lawyer will have the experience needed to know who is responsible for the harm done to you and how best to proceed with a lawsuit, he said. Pritzker has established himself as a national leader in Listeria litigation and has recovered millions for victims of food poisoning, including a landmark $6,000,000 settlement in one difficult case.
To contact Fred Pritzker and his team of attorneys, call 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or visit the firm’s website at http://foodpoisoning.pritzkerlaw.com. PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is a national law firm with offices at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South 7th Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402.