Personal Injury Law

Traceability after Spinach

By Bill Marler, Esq.

Sara Rubin of the Monterey County Weekly wrote a thought-provoking story on traceability in the produce industry – 'From the Field to the Fork, Tracing the Traceability Issue.' The piece is worth a read – especially some of the quotes:

The flipside of protection is increased exposure for the culpable party. After a 2009 salmonella outbreak killed nine people, the Peanut Corporation of America closed its doors after more than 30 years in business. Bill Marler, a personal injury attorney and expert on foodborne illness, says, 'If something goes wrong, traceability is going to make sure someone catches you. On a fairly low level, that is always going to be a concern of a company.'

But Marler and Treacy agree keeping recalls simple and small is good for business. 'You couldn't give spinach away in 2006,' Treacy says.

…

Marler says it's important to keep traceability in perspective. 'The outbreak has already happened, so having traceability isn't going to fix that one problem.'

Full post as published by Marler Blog on March 03, 2011 (boomark / email).