Making School Food Healthier
Some kids have already started attending classes, and most will be back in school after Labor Day. Many parents may justifiably be wondering about recent efforts to improve the quality...
Contributing Writers
Andy Weisbecker
Marler Clark LLPSeattle, Washington
—http://www.marlerclark.com/lawyers/view/andy-weisbecker
—aweisbecker@marlerclark.com
Andy Weisbecker graduated from the University of Washington Law School in 1980 and clerked for two Washington Superior Court judges before he began practicing commercial and tort litigation in Seattle in 1983. Andy is one of the founding partners of Marler Clark, and has been involved in the litigation and resolution of claims brought on behalf of persons injured in food product liability incidents and foodborne illness outbreaks since the firm’s formation in 1998. His law practice is focused on the representation of minor children, and on the presentation and resolution of their personal injury claims.
Articles Written by Andy Weisbecker
Wedding Bell Blues
No one wants the 'Wedding Bell Blues.' [1]My son is getting married in mid-August, and the related preparations are starting to pick up a sense of greater urgency. I have...
The Flavoring of Infant Eating Patterns
Recent media coverage focused on the failed attempt by Mead Johnson to introduce a chocolate flavored drink for toddlers. Mead Johnson launched its Enfagrow vanilla flavor in July, 2009, and...
Food Bugs Deserve Red Cards at World Cup 2010
The thousands of soccer (football for the rest of the world) fans traveling to South Africa for the World Cup also get the opportunity for the next few weeks to...
Few Healthy Food Choices in Urban Food Deserts
Residents of urban food deserts, typically low income neighborhoods, have to deal with limited healthy food choices, in addition to perhaps more obvious disadvantages of life there. A food desert...
Local Health Departments Hit Hard by Budget Woes
Despite their vital role in the nation's public health system, state and local health departments have been hit hard by the recession and related budget cuts. Three recent studies provide...
Food Safety Issues at the Border
"Disease knows no boundaries and borders are porous to disease" [1]Much has been written about food safety issues related to the increasing sales of imported food in this country. What...
More or Less Food Safety Regulation?
During the past weeks, a few news stories have highlighted the distinctions between two different legislative approaches to address the issue of food safety. There is little question that the...
Oysters, a Simple Food with a Complicated History
With the New Orleans Saints playing in the Super Bowl and Fat Tuesday just days away, it's quite likely that large amounts of raw oysters will be consumed over the...
Please Pass the Bacteria
Recently, while reviewing some documents, I found a Los Angeles Health Department 2005 ACDC Special Report captioned "Please Pass The Bacteria: An Outbreak of Clostridium Perfringens Associated With Catered Thanksgiving...
Food Illness Costs Substantial, Significant
The costs of foodborne illness are substantial and significant. The November 18, 2009, Chicago Tribune article, "Food Poisoning: Source of E. coli illness often can't be found", effectively described the...
Bacteria in Formula Poses Risk for Infants
In the October 30, 2009, edition of its weekly MMWR publication, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on an investigation in November, 2008, when Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria...
The Naming Of Cronobacter Sakazakii
"Classifications are theories about the basis of natural order, not dull catalogues compiled only to avoid chaos." Stephen Jay Gould, Wonderful Life (1989), 98.Enterobacter sakazakii, a gram-negative bacillus, is a...
A Legal History of Raw Milk in the United States
In "A Legal History of Raw Milk in the United States," an article for the Journal of Environmental Health, I begin with a quote from Winston Churchill: "There is no...
Class Action Foodborne-Illness Claims
"Class Action Foodborne-Illness Claims" focuses on the elements of a class action lawsuit, certification of a class, and gives reasoning to the decision behind bringing individual lawsuits on behalf of...