--- title: Bill Marler and the Fight to Make Ground Beef Safer from E. coli date: 2026-05-31T08:33:00-07:00 author: Bill Marler canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/bill-marler-and-the-fight-to-make-ground-beef-safer-from-e-coli" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / [Press Releases](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/press-releases) / # Bill Marler and the Fight to Make Ground Beef Safer from E. coli Introduction For more than thirty years, the story of E. coli in American ground beef has been inseparable from the career of one Seattle-area attorney, William “Bill” Marler. What began as a single lawsuit on behalf of a critically ill nine-year-old grew into a body of litigation, advocacy, and regulatory petitioning that food-safety officials, industry figures, and public-health scientists widely credit with helping transform the safety of the U.S. meat supply. This piece traces that role from the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak through the landmark regulatory designations of 1994 and 2012, and into the present—and looks at how that story reached a national audience through the book and documentary *Poisoned*. The Jack in the Box Outbreak (1993): Where It Began In early January 1993, children began arriving at Western Washington emergency rooms with internal bleeding, seizures, and failing kidneys. Investigators traced the cause to undercooked hamburgers served at Jack in the Box restaurants, contaminated with a then-obscure pathogen: E. coli O157:H7. Four children died, and more than 700 people across four states were sickened, with 171 hospitalizations. Bill Marler, then a young Seattle attorney, had never heard of the strain. He spent hours studying in the University of Washington medical school library before filing one of the first lawsuits. He came to represent Brianne Kiner, the most seriously injured survivor—a nine-year-old from Redmond who spent more than 40 days in a coma and developed lasting organ damage. Marler negotiated a **$15.6 million settlement** with Jack in the Box, a state record at the time, and a subsequent class action recovered more than $50 million for victims. The outbreak was a turning point for both U.S. food safety and Marler's career. From roughly 1993 to 2002, by his own account, about **95 percent of his law firm's revenue came from E. coli cases linked to hamburger.** The 1994 Adulterant Designation for E. coli O157:H7 The most consequential regulatory change to follow Jack in the Box came on **September 29, 1994**, when Michael Taylor, then head of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), announced at an American Meat Institute conference that ground beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 would be treated as **adulterated** under federal law—making it illegal to sell. The meat industry sued the USDA over the designation and lost. Marler did not author the rule, but his high-profile litigation and public advocacy created the pressure and publicity that made such action politically possible. As he later described it, the post–Jack in the Box collaboration among FSIS, USDA, industry, and consumer groups became “a roadmap for things that can go right when people work together.” Crucially, the adulterant designation did not work overnight. Marler has emphasized that it took years for the decision to “work itself through” the regulatory and implementation process—including industry interventions in slaughter and processing, plus higher recommended cooking temperatures for both consumers and restaurants. By 2003, the spring and summer recall season passed without the wave of beef recalls that had become routine. The 2007 Cargill Outbreak and Stephanie Smith Even as the broader trend improved, severe individual cases persisted. In September 2007, **Stephanie Smith**, a 22-year-old dance instructor from Cold Spring, Minnesota, ate a Cargill-produced hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. She developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), suffered repeated seizures, was placed in a medically induced coma for months, and emerged with brain damage and paralyzed from the waist down. Her story became the subject of a **Pulitzer Prize–winning 2009 New York Times investigation by reporter Michael Moss**, “The Burger That Shattered Her Life,” which traced her hamburger back through the supply chain and exposed the industry practice of blending beef trim from multiple processors with minimal testing. Marler represented Smith in her lawsuit against Cargill, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota; the case settled in 2010 for an undisclosed amount described as sufficient “to care for her throughout her life.” The Cargill outbreak prompted a recall of roughly 845,000 pounds of frozen patties, and Marler Clark represented 14 victims. The 2009 Petition and the 2012 “Big Six” Expansion Marler's most direct fingerprint on regulation came through a formal petition. In **October 2009**, Marler Clark petitioned FSIS to declare six additional non-O157 Shiga toxin–producing E. coli strains (STECs)—known as the **“Big Six”: O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145**—as adulterants in beef, on par with O157:H7. These strains can produce the same deadly toxins that cause bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, and death. When the agency was slow to respond, Marler publicly threatened to sue the USDA if it did not act. In supporting the petition, he wrote that “the people of this nation do not deserve another Jack in the Box–sized catastrophe as a pre-requisite for currently needed agency action.” The pressure worked. In 2011–2012, FSIS announced it would classify the Big Six as adulterants, and the rule took effect in June 2012, making it illegal to sell raw beef trimmings and non-intact beef products contaminated with any of the six strains. The timing reflected shifting epidemiology: by 2010, non-O157 STECs were responsible for more confirmed U.S. infections than O157:H7 itself. Marler called the 1994 O157 designation a turning point that “dramatically changed the landscape of how safe our meat supply is for the better,” and predicted the new rule would have a similar effect. Illnesses from non-O157 STEC strains in ground beef subsequently declined—an outcome Marler attributes directly to the 2009 petition and the years of pressure that followed. “Trying to Put Myself Out of Business” A recurring theme in Marler's advocacy is his stated goal of eliminating his own beef caseload. More than twenty years ago he wrote an op-ed challenging the USDA, FSIS, and the beef industry to “put him out of business” by making ground beef safe. By his account, that challenge has largely been met from the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak through the 2002 ConAgra outbreak, at least 95 percent of Marler Clark's revenue came from hamburger-linked E. coli cases; today, that share is **nearly zero.** As he has put it, “E. coli cases linked to ground beef are no longer a part of the work we do anymore. The industry to its credit did its job and met my challenge.” His broader impact has been recognized by people inside the food-safety system. Don L. Zink, Ph.D., a former FDA scientist, observed that the cases brought by Marler and his associates have “an impact that goes beyond accountability for the harm caused,” because the resulting publicity motivates “a top-down commitment to food safety” among senior industry leaders. Telling the Story: The Book and Documentary Poisoned Marler's role in the Jack in the Box tragedy and the decades of reform that followed reached a wide public audience through *Poisoned*, first as a book and later as an award-winning film. The book—*Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat*, by journalist and author Jeff Benedict—chronicles the 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak and traces Marler's rise as a food-safety attorney, including his representation of victims and the landmark $15.6 million settlement for one of the most seriously injured survivors. In 2023, the book was adapted into a feature documentary, *Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food*, directed by award-winning filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig (known for *Fed Up* and *Under the Gun*), with Benedict serving as a co-producer and writer. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023 and began streaming on Netflix on August 2, 2023. Marler is featured prominently—serving, in effect, as a narrative throughline—alongside food-safety advocate Darin Detwiler, who lost his 16-month-old son Riley to E. coli during the 1993 outbreak. The documentary highlights Marler's role representing the Jack in the Box victims and his transformation into a nationally recognized expert in foodborne-illness litigation and features his commentary on systemic problems in the American food industry, including his argument that “a desire for profits often trumps consumer safety.” In 2024, *Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food* won the **Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary at the 45th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards**—recognition that further amplified the film's food-safety message and Marler's decades of advocacy. Following its release, Marler took part in public Q&A sessions with author Jeff Benedict. The Work Isn't Finished (2024–2026) Ground beef E. coli outbreaks have become far rarer but have not disappeared. A handful of cases in recent years—including a 2024 outbreak in Montana and, most recently, a 2026 outbreak linked to beef kofta served at The Kebab Shop restaurant chain—underscore that gaps remain. In the 2026 outbreak, nine California residents were infected with E. coli O157:H7 (six of them children), with five hospitalizations and two cases of HUS. The seasoned ground-beef kebabs were produced by Olympia Food Industries of Franklin Park, Illinois, and the chain stopped selling the product on May 18, 2026. Marler made himself publicly available to comment, framing the outbreak as a reminder that the reforms he fought for—adulterant declarations, mandatory testing, and HACCP requirements—made ground beef measurably safer, but that vigilance and proper cooking to a safe internal temperature remain essential. References 1. Marler Blog, "Press Advisory: Food Safety Advocate available to speak about recent E. coli Outbreak linked to Kebab Shop Restaurant," May 2026. [marlerblog.com](https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/press-advisory-food-safety-advocate-available-to-speak-about-recent-e-coli-outbreak-linked-to-kebab-shop-restaurant/) 2. "Testimonials" (incl. Don L. Zink, Ph.D., and Dr. Peter Gerner-Schmidt), BillMarler.com. [billmarler.com](https://billmarler.com/testimonials) 3. "30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, a Seattle attorney still fights for food safety," The Seattle Times, Feb. 24, 2023. [seattletimes.com](https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/30-years-after-the-deadly-e-coli-outbreak-a-seattle-attorney-still-fights-for-food-safety/) 4. "Ep. 128. Bill Marler: Perspectives on Poisoned and Food Safety Progress," Food Safety Magazine, Apr. 17, 2023. [food-safety.com](https://www.food-safety.com/articles/8001-ep-128-bill-marler-perspectives-on-poisoned-and-food-safety-progress) 5. "Steps Along the Way to the Big Six Ban," Food Safety News, Sep. 18, 2011. [foodsafetynews.com](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/09/steps-along-the-way-to-the-big-six-ban/) 6. "The Food Safety Imperative: Talking With Attorney Bill Marler," Food Safety News, Feb. 22, 2022. [foodsafetynews.com](https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2022/02/the-food-safety-imperative-talking-with-attorney-bill-marler/) 7. "Stephanie Smith – The 2007 Cargill E. coli Outbreak," BillMarler.com. [billmarler.com](https://billmarler.com/key_case/cargill-e-coli-outbreak) 8. Marler Blog, "Hamburger, E. coli, Outbreaks, Lawsuits and Thirty Years of Fighting Back," May 2026. [marlerblog.com](https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/hamburger-e-coli-outbreaks-lawsuits-and-thirty-years-of-fighting-back/) 9. Marler Blog, "Dancer Paralyzed by E. coli Infection Sues Meat Giant Cargill for $100 Million," 2010. [marlerblog.com](https://www.marlerblog.com/legal-cases/dancer-paralyzed-by-e-coli-infection-sues-meat-giant-cargill-for-100-million/) 10. JoNel Aleccia, "Six new E. coli strains banned from beef supply," NBC News / msnbc.com, 2011. [nbcnews.com](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/six-new-e-coli-strains-banned-beef-supply-flna1c9452869) 11. "FSIS to Declare ‘The Big Six’ Non-O157 STECs Adulterants," Food Poison Journal, Oct. 10, 2012. [foodpoisonjournal.com](https://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/food-policy-regulation/fsis-to-declare-the-big-six-non-o157-stecs-adulterants/) 12. Marler Blog (FSIS Big Six testing rule; "dramatically changed the landscape" quote). [marlerblog.com](https://www.marlerblog.com/page/352/) 13. "Ground Beef and E. coli," Food Poison Journal. [foodpoisonjournal.com](https://www.foodpoisonjournal.com/food-poisoning-information/ground-beef-and-e-coli/) 14. PR Newswire, "Press Advisory: Food Safety Advocate available to speak about recent E. coli Outbreak linked to Kebab Shop Restaurant," May 26, 2026. [prnewswire.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/press-advisory-food-safety-advocate-available-to-speak-about-recent-e-coli-outbreak-linked-to-kebab-shop-restaurant-302782480.html) 15. "Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food wins an Emmy," New Food, 2024 (Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary, 45th News & Documentary Emmy Awards). [newfoodmagazine.com](https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/news/243526/poisoned-the-dirty-truth-about-your-food-wins-an-emmy/) 16. Marler Blog, "Marler’s 32 years of Food Safety Advocacy highlighted in Documentary Poisoned," 2024. [marlerblog.com](https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/marlers-32-years-of-food-safety-advocacy-highlighted-in-documentary-poisoned/) 17. Netflix Tudum, "Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food: Everything You Need to Know." 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The team at Marler Clark is here to answer all your questions. Find out if you’re eligible for a lawsuit, what questions to ask your doctor, and more. [ Get a free consultation ](https://marlerclark.com/contact) ##### Related Resources ###### [E. coli Food Poisoning](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/e-coli-food-poisoning) What is E. coli and how does it cause food poisoning? Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a highly studied, common species of bacteria that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, so... ###### [E. coli O157:H7](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/e-coli-o157h7) E. coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogen that causes food poisoning. E. coli O157:H7 is the most commonly identified and the most notorious Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotype in... ###### [Non-O157 STEC](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/non-o157-stec) Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli can also cause food poisoning. 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