Food Poisoning Law Firm
Pritzker Olsen Law Firm Food Safety Blog

Pritzker Olsen attorneys have appeared on CBS News, Fox news, and numerous local television stations throughout the country. They have recovered millions for victims of food poisoning outbreaks. To contact our law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.

Almer Testimony Captivates Hearing

Passionate testimony from Jeffrey Almer, whose mother died of Salmonella poisoning after eating contaminated peanut butter, captivated a congressional subcommittee on the same day that two executives of the peanut butter company refused to answer questions.
"Their behavior is criminal in my opinion,'' Jeffrey Almer said of the manufacturer, Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). "I want to see jail time and I want to see them served nothing but the putrid sludge they've been troweling out.''

Almer told the committee his mother had survived lung and brain cancer in 2007 and 2008. She was recovering nicely from a urinary tract infection and talking about getting a new puppy when she was suddenly sickened with Salmonella. She died December 21 at a hospital in Brainerd with family gathered around her.

"Cancer couldn't claim her, but peanut butter did,'' Jeffrey Almer said. "Our family feels cheated. My mom should be with us today.''

Almer's testimony, which was streamed live over the Internet on Wednesday, came before the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. He and his siblings are clients of national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen Attorneys, which has filed a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit against PCA and distributor King Nut Companies in Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis.

PritzkerOlsen also represents the family of Doris Flatgard, 87, who died January 4 with a Salmonella infection after eating the same brand of peanut butter consumed by Mrs. Almer.

Jeffrey Almer told the subcommittee that his mother was a proud American businesswoman who had a lot of "Sisu,'' which is what Finnish people call a person with spunk, fortitude and determination.

Just after New Year's Day, the Minnesota Department of Health informed the family that Shirley Almer had a positive test for Salmonella that matched the outbreak strain.
"She had unknowingly consumed Salmonella-laced peanut butter while in her immune compromised state of health,'' Almer told the subcommittee. "Our grief was replaced by anger as we struggled to accept this very preventable tragedy.''
Almer told the subcommittee that PCA "appears to be more concerned with squeezing every dollar possible at the expense of sanitary conditions and sound food manufacturing processes.''
He continued: "PCA now has the blood of eight victims on their hands, along with the shattered health of a known 600 others'' who were sickened by the outbreak stain of Salmonella. He said PCA's legacy "is now that of a company that did what it could get away with until their shoddy practices led to one of the nation's largest recalls.''

What he didn't realize is that officials in Ohio were confirming on Wednesday that a ninth death may have been caused by the outbreak strain of Salmonella.
Mr. Almer closed his testimony by railing against America's underfunded food regulatory safety net.
"Shirley Almer loved this country but was terribly let down by a broken and ineffective food safety system. She was let down in the worst possible way by the very government whose responsibility it is to protect its citizens,'' he said. "We need strong laws, regulations and effective enforcement enacted to protect our families.''

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Food Poisoning Lawyer Fred Pritzker has appeared on national television and has been quoted by national publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and Lawyers USA. He has been named a "Super Lawyer" by Law and Politics magazine. He is also listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America. To contact Fred Pritzker about a food poisoning lawsuit or food safety advocacy, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit the firm's free consultation form.

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