Personal Injury Law

Obama - Where is the Beef?

By Bill Marler, Esq.

OK, I could not help myself. Hell, no one knows where the 143 million pounds of recalled meat really is. As I posted below, I am an Obama and Clinton supporter – “Obanton?” I did get an email from one of my chief defense lawyer opponents (also an Obama supporter) noting that Obama has made a statement on the recent recall.  Well, it is 6:00 AM Seattle time and I am at the airport on my way to New Orleans to sit in on the GMA Food Claims Litigation Conference - should be interesting.  So, back to Obama's statement:

Senator Barack Obama released a statement on the Department of Agriculture‚s decision to recall 143 million pounds of frozen beef that came from “downed” animals. The consumption of downed cattle can pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease. Senator Obama released the following statement:

"Senator Barack Obama released a statement on the Department of Agriculture‚s decision to recall 143 million pounds of frozen beef that came from “downed” animals. The consumption of downed cattle can pose a higher risk of contamination from E. coli, salmonella or mad cow disease.

"Senator Obama said: “Although the Department of Agriculture has now recalled the tainted beef, an estimated 37 million pounds has gone to school lunch programs, and unfortunately, officials believe that most of the meat has already been consumed by schoolchildren. This incident demonstrates yet again the inadequacy of the food recall process. Far too often, tainted food is not recalled until too late.

"When I am President, it will not be business as usual when it comes to food safety. I will provide additional resources to hire more federal food inspectors. I will also call on the Department of Agriculture to examine whether federal food safety laws need to be strengthened, in particular to provide greater protections against tainted food being used in the National School Lunch Program.

"As the parent of two young daughters, there are few issues more important to me than ensuring the safety of the food that our children consume. I commend the Humane Society of the United States for bringing this important issue to the public attention and believe that the mistreatment of downed cows is unacceptable and poses a serious threat to public health.”

As the Fanatic Cook points out in a comment I received – “Senator Clinton is a cosponsor of the 2007 Safe Food Act. Senators Obama and McCain are not. (That's not saying they wouldn't be if they were briefed on it.) I'm not making an endorsement here! I'm only saying that I've been following Senate and House versions of the 2007 Safe Food Act, a bill that would among many things increase number of inspectors, increase frequency for inspections, provide funding for same, and consolidate food safety responsibilities among organizations (FDA, USDA, etc.), and Clinton, along with Schumer (NY), Casey (PA), and Durbin (IL), are the sponsors of the bill in the Senate."

So, Obama, time to put some “meat on the bone.” And, I am still available for “Food Safety Czar.”

Full post as published by Marler Blog on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).