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# Counterpoint: FDA traceback procedures show chokepoints
- URL: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018/06/publishers-platform-fda-traceback-efforts-show-chokepoints/
- Published: 2018-06-01T04:00:24.000Z
- Updated: 2021-04-08T17:20:04.000Z
- Author: Bill Marler
- Tags: Foodborne Illness Investigations, Foodborne Illness Outbreaks, Government Agencies, Opinion & Contributed Articles, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-11-25 10:47

***Editor’s note:*** *[For a different view on this topic, please see a joint post by Scott Gottlieb and Stephen Ostroff](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/home/) from their vantage points as FDA commissioner and FDA deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, respectively.*

We are in the unique position to know many, but not all, of the “points of sale” – restaurants and grocery stores – involved in the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. Having over 100 clients allows us to dig deep into their purchase history and consumption history.

![](http://foodsafetynewsfullservice.marlersites.com/files/2012/10/choppedromainelettuce-406.jpg)

We have already determined clusters of illnesses linked to Panera, Texas Roadhouse, Red Lobsters and Papa Murphy’s. We also have identified a processor – Freshway Foods.

We have reached out to several other retailers, suppliers, processors and growers to ask (first nicely and then with a subpoena) if they will cooperate or not. We will continue our efforts and share what we find with the FDA and the public.

I will not complain here – again – about why the FDA refuses to name those involved – from farms, distributors, processors and retailers (stores and restaurants). [But you can read my thoughts on that here.](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/publishers-platform-its-past-time-for-fda-to-out-retailers/)

**Editor’s note:* Bill Marler, founding member of Marler Clark LLP in Seattle, is publisher of Food Safety News.*

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