Personal Injury Law

Food Poisoning Victims Speak to Congress about Food Safety Legislation

By Bill Marler

Victims of foodborne illness gathered in the nation's capital last week to speak to Senators about the need to move food safety legislation forward. Senate bill 510 (S510, the Food Safety Modernization Act) passed unanimously out of committee in November, but has yet to come to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

"I think it went really well," said Peter Hurley, whose three-year-old son Jake Hurley fell ill to Salmonella during the 2009 Peanut Corporation of America peanut butter outbreak. Hurley has taken an active roll in lobbying members of Congress to strengthen food safety laws. "We had some really good meetings with Senators and their staff. Everybody is on board with this."

"Most of the Congressmen we spoke with were very receptive to our message," said Elizabeth Armstrong, whose children were sickened by E. coli O157:H7-tainted spinach in 2006. "Most of them did see the need for stricter food safety legislation. The frustrating part for us, though, was the general feeling that it was going to take some time to make this happen."

Lauren Bush explained how the trip affected her: "Going to Washington to lobby for food safety altered my perception of what happened to me. When I contracted E. coli O157:H7, I felt like a powerless victim whose entire life had been turned upside down by an invisible force that didn't have a face to confront. However, being involved with S.T.O.P. and going to D.C. changed that because I was able to sit in front of people who have the power to modify the laws that shape our country. It was incredibly powerful to discover that my voice matters."

Full post as published by Marler Blog on March 14, 2010 (boomark / email).