Think of it this way: There is a bathtub and it’s always filled with two inches of water. One day, however, there suddenly are four inches of water in the bathtub. That example was used in 2010 by one of the experts at the Food and Drug Administration or the Centers for Disease Control to…
Judges grill both sides in DeCosters’ egg sentence appeal
Two of three judges hearing appeals of the jail sentences handed down to Austin “Jack” DeCoster and Peter DeCoster sounded uncomfortable yesterday with the concept of sending corporate officials to prison for a so-called strict liability case. Lawyers were left arguing whether “this case is that case” or whether, as Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney…
Publisher’s Platform: Time for More Criminal Prosecutions in Food Poisoning Cases?
It has been a busy past several weeks for public health investigators (and lawyers) and uncomfortable (and sometimes deadly) for food poisoning victims, as well as for the management of several companies. Here are just a few of the outbreaks hitting the news: 
Salmonella Cucumbers: As of Nov. 18, 2015, 838 people infected with the…
DeCoster Sentencing in Sioux City Reveals Many Sides of the Story
At Monday’s sentencing that took just short of five hours, the man who was once the largest egg producer in the U.S. finally got to tell his side of the story, one victim’s father spoke for thousands of others, and a lively and talkative judge sometimes left one of the nation’s top defense attorneys searching…
Government Says Salmonella Controls DeCoster Practiced in Maine Were Not Followed in Iowa
When 550 million shell eggs were recalled from two Iowa farms in 2010 as the nation experienced an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE), Austin “Jack” DeCoster owned or controlled the largest egg production conglomerate in the U.S. Government attorneys say he knew more than he’s let on about controlling the pathogen, and they plan to…
U.S. Attorney in Iowa Seeking Victims of Egg-Related Salmonella Outbreak
If you were sickened by Salmonella in eggs from Wright County Egg in 2010, the U.S. Attorney’s Office may be looking to speak with you. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa is seeking information from people sickened between the beginning of 2010 and August 2010 by eggs from Wright County Egg,…
CA Coop's Civil Action Against DeCoster Moves Closer to Trial
Before the August 2010 Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) outbreak sickened as many as 62,000 people and led to a recall of more than half a billion eggs, Nucal Foods Inc. and Quality Egg LLC were trading eggs like currency. Now those two companies are on the opposite sides of a federal civil action that in all…