William Marler, food safety advocate and expert in foodborne illness litigation, will speak at the China International Food Safety Conference and Expo on Wednesday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m. His lecture, titled “How U.S. Consumers Hold Producers liable: A Civil Litigation Lesson in the U.S. Market” will be presented at the Landmark Hotel and Towers, 8 North Dongsanhuan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 1000004.
“China is experiencing growth on a level that is almost incomprehensible,” said Marler from his office in Seattle, Washington. “The job of maintaining food safety and quality during that growth is a task on the same scale. I got involved with the conference—both as a speaker and a sponsor—because I believe that the Chinese food safety officials are doing exactly the right thing by inviting those at the forefront of the field worldwide to come to China and share their expertise.”
William Marler began litigating foodborne illness cases in 1993, when he represented Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor of the Jack in the Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, resulting in her landmark $15.6 million (106,407,600 CNY) settlement. Marler has focused his practice on representing individuals in litigation resulting from E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, hepatitis A, and other food contamination cases. He has represented victims of every major foodborne illness outbreak in the United States, securing over 500 million dollars (3,417,764,736 CNY) for his clients.
Mr. Marler travels widely to address industry, government, and consumer groups in an effort to improve food safety around the world. Earlier this year, he organized and hosted a food safety conference in Seattle, Washington where experts from the US, EU, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and China met to discuss food safety in the global marketplace.
“The current milk crisis underscores the need for Chinese business and government to take a hard look at food safety and quality,” continued Marler. “The challenges couldn’t be clearer.”
The China International Food Safety Conference and Expo runs September 23-24, 2008. The conference is hosted by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine, PRC and produced by the China Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Association.