Kalispell Personal Injury Attorneys

Anderson & Bliven P.C. Montana Attorneys helping Montanans recover from food borne illness and seek justice. We know Montana, Montana Courts and Juries. We are experienced with 17 years of practice. Let our firm and resources help you.

Authored by Scott Anderson, Anderson & Bliven P.C. your Montana Food Safety Lawyer, helping families receive the necessary medical, financial and other support during dire times of need. The Montana Food Alert is created to raise awareness about outbreaks which often occur as a result bad safety standards in the food industry and to warn Montanans of State wide alerts.

The most common form of serious food poisoning involves a particularly virulent strain for Escherichia coli or E. Coli 0:157. The young, old and immune compromised are most at risk. They symptoms generally involve bloody diarrhea accompanies by high fever. It usually takes between 3-4 days before symptoms occur.

In 10-15% of E. Coli 0:157 cases progress to Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is a deadly condition from the verocytoxin producing E. coli 0157. Some impairment of renal function results from this side effect. Dialysis is common and in some cases a Kidney Transplant is required.

Other food born illnesses include Campylobacter, which is a common cause of diarrheal illness in the United States. According to the CDC 13 cases are diagnosed each year for each 100,000 persons. Foodborne botulism occurs when a person ingests the toxin, which already is present in the contaminated food. Salmonella also cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps but occur in a much shorter incubation period 12 hours to 3 days. In some cases hospitalization may be required. If the diarrhea spread from the intestines to the blood stream this may cause severe injury or death. Shigella infections are also cause by contact or consumption of contaminated food. In a small percentage 2% of cases serious complications may result. Food allergies may also be serious. For example some people have severe life threatening complications. This occurs when a product is labeled peanut free but is actually not so. A recall usually follows.

Food Safety Facts from the CDC

COOK: meat, poultry and eggs thoroughly. Ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Eggs cooked until the yolk is firm.

SEPARATE: Don’t cross contaminate on food with another. Washing hands, utensils and cutting boards after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry and before they touch another foot. Put cooked meat on a clean platter rather back on the one that held the raw meat.

CHILL: Refrigerate leftovers promptly. Bacteria can grow quickly at room temperature so refrigerate.

CLEAN: Wash all produce before consuming and remove and discard the outermost leaves of a head of lettuce or cabbage.

When foodborne illness and food poisoning occur often it occurs in Clusters or groups. E. Coli may be present in almost any meat or dairy product you purchase at the store. If you have a store discount card use it. The store then keeps track of what you purchased when. While many are concerned about privacy issues, the most important issue is your health. If you develop symptoms and a food product you purchased subsequently was recalled, it can be traced exactly to its source through DNA fingerprinting.

How do I make a complaint? To start with get medical treatment and confirm your diagnosis. All contaminated food and food poisoning along with food recalls to your local health department.

How do I make a complaint or find out more information? To start with get medical treatment and confirm your diagnosis. REPORT all contaminated food and food poisoning along with food recalls to your local health department.

Montana County Health Departments (Please report any suspected food illness since your illness may be considered an outbreak, but only if you call, you may also email us and we will put you in touch with the right officials to investigation and help you and your family with the process.

http://www.dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/documents/localphagencies.pdf

Unfortunately due to medical confidentiality provisions in Montana Law sometimes Montanans are the last to know about an outbreak. The sooner a food poisoning illness or severe allergic reaction to contaminated food, the sooner the public will be alerted. Because this alert process may take up to 9 months to a year to be declared we have created a website where you can report incidences of food poisoning and illness to provide an early alert and help others avoid serious illness or death.

For more information on Foodborne disease and make a report available to the public go to our foodborne illness alert site. www.montanafoodalert.com. PLEASE REPORT. PLEASE SHARE INFORMATION. Don’t let the big food corporations get away with making a profit at the expense of safety.

You may post your food alert on the www.montanafoodalert.com site. Most recently 2 cases of Salmonella poisoning linked to Taco Bell in Montana as reported by KPAX.

We help you and your family recovers from devastating food illness, recover what is fair, hold the food corporations accountable. We will be there when and where you need us. An experienced attorney from our office you chose will handle your case personally. Our primary goal is to get you the health care you need to get better and protect the public from unsafe practices often perpetrated by the large food corporations.

PLEASE HELP KEEP MONTANANS INFORMED www.montanafoodalert.com. You can get help and help others.

Anderson & Bliven P.C. has handled substantial food cases throughout Montana including many products. Incidents have been reported throughout Montana including Kalispell, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Great Falls, Helena, Billings, Bozeman and Missoula.

The Montana personal injury attorneys at Anderson & Bliven, P.C., handle all types of Personal Injury, Criminal Law, Family Law, Business Law, and Social Security Disability matters in Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, and throughout the state of Montana. If you have been injured by a foodborne illness, auto accident, or suffered any type of injury, call our Kalispell personal injury attorneys at (406) 755-6828 or toll-free at (888) 757-6828 for a free consultation with an experienced attorney.