VICTORIA – As food safety and monitoring is stepped up, the public must also expect more reports of pathogens and food recalls, says an American lawyer who defends food companies in food borne illness lawsuits.Shawn Stevens told Canadian Meat Council members that the increased scrutiny has led to more litigation. He added that as more pathogens are identified as illness-causing sources, more outbreaks will be solved.He said the expression “from crop to court” has become a buzz phrase in the United States legal community, where catastrophic food borne illness cases have become the sole source of work for some American legal firms. Lawyers commonly receive one-third of the settlement money in the U.S.Stevens told a food safety session held during the Canadian Meat Council’s annually meeting in Victoria May 5-7 that he tells his clients to be prepared.He said companies must develop robust food safety cultures and need sound crisis management plans that involve staff, management, food safety experts and a legal team.Early warning systems within organizations are also necessary so companies can respond quickly to regulators and public health officials.Food companies also must have adequate insurance coverage.He said companies should also take note early on of any mistakes that might have been made during the investigation or with the information that is made public during an outbreak.“There is a tidal wave of information and testing results that are running over our public health officials at this time,” Stevens said.“There is potential for a lot of mistakes to be made.”The Canadian Food Inspection Agency estimates 11 to 13 million food borne illnesses are reported in Canada annually, while 76 million cases are reported in the United States.“That means one in four people in the U.S. will ultimately be affected,” said Stevens.
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