--- title: Feds Move Quickly to Combat Latest Salmonella Scare date: 2009-04-01T18:29:00-07:00 author: admin canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/feds-move-quickly-to-combat-latest-salmonella-scare" section: Case News Additional --- [All News](/news_events) / [](https://marlerclark.com/news_events) / # Feds Move Quickly to Combat Latest Salmonella Scare Chastened by a costly and deadly salmonella outbreak that spawned the country's largest ever food recall, government and industry players moved quickly to try to combat the latest scare involving pistachios.Hours before federal regulators publicly announced a massive recall of the nuts, public health agencies nationwide were alerted to be on the lookout for suspicious stomach illnesses in a bid to get a jump on a potential outbreak. The rarely used tactic - announcing a recall before illnesses strike - was meant to put the U.S. Food and Drug Administration "ahead of the curve," said the agency's commissioner for foods, Dr. David Acheson. Outside of two reports of gastrointestinal illness, there has been no wave of sickenings linked to pistachios reported. That contrasts markedly with the peanut salmonella contamination, linked to nine deaths and poisonings in almost 700 other people. Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Calif., began voluntarily pulling its products from distribution centers and retail shelves Monday night. The company is an affiliate of Setton International Foods Inc., in Commack. The problem with its pistachios was caught during internal tests performed by Georgia Nut Co., which buys nuts from Setton to make Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix under contract with Kraft Foods International. Georgia Nut was doing routine testing, Kraft spokeswoman Adrienne Dimopoulos said. The company notified Kraft it had identified four different strains of salmonella in the nuts. Kraft then called the FDA on March 24 to say it was voluntarily recalling the trail mix. The FDA, after discussions with Georgia Nut, identified Setton as the processor and began investigating, Acheson said. California health officials sent investigators to review records, production practices and collect samples for laboratory analysis. Results are not yet known. Bill Marler, an attorney with 15 years experience litigating food-borne illnesses, said "it was fortuitous that Kraft was conducting testing. They deserve credit for blowing the whistle." A more aggressive, proactive response to contamination helps change the notion that the embattled FDA merely reacts to a contamination after consumers start falling ill, experts say. "Actually it's not that new," Dr. Peter Pitts, a former associate commissioner of the FDA said of the front-footed approach. "It is an infrequently used approach. And it is infrequently used because of the FDA's historic dearth of funding," added Pitts, now president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest in Manhattan. Public health experts also applauded the aggressive stance. "I am pleasantly surprised seeing them take such a comprehensive, proactive approach. To do this kind of a warning is challenging," Dr. Humayun Chaudhry, Suffolk County Health Commissioner, said of the FDA. Chaudry's public health staff checked their owned data, phoned local hospitals and found no new reports of salmonella poisoning. The Wadsworth Center Laboratory in Albany also reported no new salmonella-related cases statewide. Acheson credited Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, FDA's incoming deputy commissioner, with the tougher stance on contamination. Sharfstein hopes to reinvigorate the agency's watchdog role. A Setton spokesman Tuesday pointed to possible cross-contamination between roasted and raw pistachios as the cause of the problem. Pitts stressed the pistachio recall was very different from the peanut contamination, an outbreak he said was caused "by criminals and involved criminal activity. The pistachio recall involves a company that wants to do the right thing. These are completely different scenarios," he said. Salmonella contamination is not growing in scope, experts say. The bacteria are part of the natural world. "It's a reflection of an industrialized food supply," said Dr. Martin Blaser, of the department of medicine at NYU Medical Center and a former salmonella surveillance officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We have twentieth century and twenty-first century modes of distribution . . . but nineteenth century modes of food safety." Long Island merchants and customers showed little anxiety Tuesday about the voluntary pistachio recall, with plenty of roasted pistachios available at area stores. Danny Alario, manager of a Commack Waldbaum's, said by noontime he had not received word from the company headquarters about the voluntary recall. But there was at least one resident who is taking the voluntary recall to heart on Tuesday. "My husband eats pistachios every single day," said Joan Simon, 62, retired and from Dix Hills, as she loaded her car with shopping bags outside the Commack Waldbaum's. "I'm going to tell him to stay away from them." ### Other Lawsuits [Infant Formula and Botulism Again - Three Sick](https://marlerclark.com/the-ten-largest-foodborne-illness-outbreaks-in-the-u-s-since-1993-and-marler-clarks-role-in-them) [Clover Hill Dairy Cheese sickens 9 with Listeria - 1 Death](https://marlerclark.com/clover-hill-dairy-cheese-sickens-8-with-listeria) [18 Sick with Salmonella from Moringa Capsules](https://marlerclark.com/18-sick-with-salmonella-from-moringa-capsules) [Kebab Shop E. coli Outbreak Sickens Nine](https://marlerclark.com/kebab-shop-e-coli-outbreak-sickens-nine) [70 Sickened by Salmonella Cantaloupe](https://marlerclark.com/70-sickened-by-salmonella-cantaloupe) [Headcheese linked to Listeria illnesses in Illinois](https://marlerclark.com/headcheese-linked-to-listeria-illnesses-in-illinois) [Raw Farms linked to another Raw Milk Cheese E.coli Outbreak - 9 People sickened - Company refuses to recall product](https://marlerclark.com/raw-farms-linked-to-another-raw-milk-cheese-e-coli-outbreak-7-people-sickened) [Salmonella linked to Live it Up hits 97](https://marlerclark.com/salmonella-linked-to-live-it-up) [64 with Salmonella tied to Oysters](https://marlerclark.com/64-with-salmonella-tied-to-oysters) [Vega Farms Salmonella Outbreak Sickens 63](https://marlerclark.com/vega-farms-salmonella-outbreak-sickens-63) [By Heart Infant Formula tied to Botulism Outbreak spikes to 51](https://marlerclark.com/by-heart-infant-formula-tied-to-botulism-outbreak) [Green Supplement causes Salmonella Outbreak](https://marlerclark.com/green-supplement-causes-salmonella-outbreak) ### Lawsuit updates about foodborne illnesses [Reactive Arthritis Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=reactive-arthritis&year=all) [E. coli Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=e-coli&year=all) [Guillain-Barre Syndrome Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=guillain-barre-syndrome&year=all) [Salmonella Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=salmonella&year=all) [Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=hemolytic-uremic-syndrome&year=all) [Listeria Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=listeria&year=all) [Irritable Bowel Syndrome Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=irritable-bowel-syndrome&year=all) [Hepatitis A Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=hepatitis-a&year=all) [Norovirus Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=norovirus&year=all) [Botulism Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=botulism&year=all) [Campylobacter Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=campylobacter&year=all) [Shigella Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=shigella&year=all) [Cyclospora Lawsuit Updates](/news_events/case-news?illness=cyclospora&year=all) ### Lawsuits updates by year [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 1998](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=1998) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 1999](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=1999) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2000](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2000) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2001](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2001) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2002](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2002) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2003](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2003) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2004](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2004) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2005](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2005) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2006](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2006) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2007](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2007) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2008](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2008) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2009](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2009) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2010](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2010) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2011](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2011) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2012](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2012) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2013](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2013) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2014](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2014) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2015](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2015) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2016](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2016) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2017](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2017) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2018](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2018) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2019](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2019) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2020](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2020) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2021](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2021) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2022](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2022) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2023](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2023) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2024](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2024) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2025](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2025) [Foodborne Illness Lawsuits in 2026](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/case-news?illness=all&year=2026) ##### Get Help #### Affected by an outbreak or recall? 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](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli-landing) ... ###### [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. E. coli O157:H7 may be the most notorious serotype of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), but there are at least... ###### [Sources of E. coli](https://marlerclark.com/foodborne-illnesses/e-coli/sources-of-e-coli) Where do E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) come from? The primary reservoirs, or ultimate sources, of E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 STEC in nature are... ##### Outbreak Database #### Looking for a comprehensive list of outbreaks? 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. [ View Outbreak Database ](https://outbreakdatabase.com)