While Chicago injury lawyers have been busy handling the numerous food poisoning suits against area Subway restaurants, as covered by this blog, advocates are pressing US Senators to pass a food safety bill that was approved by the House last year, the Washington Post reported.
Critics of the status quo claim the food industry is one of the country's least-regulated industries with the potential to harm or kill people, often through bacterial contamination. The illnesses linked to several suburban Chicago Subway restaurants are largely blamed on salmonella contamination.
A coalition of food safety groups ran newspapers ads in the home states of Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). The ads feature the stories of constituents of the respective lawmakers who fell ill from tainted food.
Erik Olson, with the Pew Health Group's food and consumer product safety programs, pointed out that new food recalls happen almost every week while lawmakers stall the bill.
In Nevada, 71 percent of voters in a Pew Charitable Trust poll said they think the Senate should pass the bill. Food safety laws haven't changed in 70 years and the new legislation would give the Food and Drug Administration significantly more regulatory muscle with respect to food production.
Government statistics state that food illnesses affect 25 percent of all Americans and kill 5,000 annually. The food industry also has a fiscal interest in tighter regulations, as it has lost billions in recalls, negatively impacted sales and legal costs.
Among other provisions, the new legislation would give the FDA the authority to order a recall for suspicion of tainted food, authority it currently does not have.
If you have become seriously ill and suspect it was caused by tainted food, you may want to contact an Illinois injury attorney and review your options.
Related Resources:
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Food Poisoning and the Law (FindLaw)
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Browse Chicago Injury Attorneys (FindLaw)
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Subway Sandwich Salmonella Outbreak Leads to Illinois Lawsuit (FindLaw's Common Law Blog)
