Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat

I had to read this book for Food Law in law school. It was very interesting and somewhat heartbreaking what happened. I would recommend this to anyone regardless if they are studying law.

21 years ago my 4 year old son, 6 year old daughter and I were all affected by the E-Coli outbreak in Washington. While my son and I recovered after several days of extreme illness my 6 year old daughter did not. She continued to progressively get worse. We were some of the early cases so it hadn't hit the news yet. When my daughter was admitted to the hospital the doctors told us she should have been at the very least comatose if not dead. How does a parent react to that? We had been taking her to the doctors for 2 weeks. While they told us they would do everything they could to save her we knew they were preparing us for her to die. No one expected her to live. She suffered acute kidney failure, HUS and later a stroke. The only chance they had of saving her was to do dialysis twice in the first 24 hours. It was dangerous but our only option at that time.We spent our time at Children's Hospital in the room across the hall from Brianne Kiner (whose story is told in the book). It was a difficult time for all of us.While Jeff's book brought back a flood of memories from that time it also brought about a healing that I hadn't realized I needed. I was fascinated as I read his book and learned about the "other side" of the story. His book was very personal to me. I recognized the names and people in the book as we had also connected with so many of them.I'm grateful to Jeff for taking the time to research this event and tell the story. For those of us who lived through the event and were personally affected by it, this book provides a new level of healing for us.My daughter did survive. The doctors could not explain her recovery. By all medical standards she should have died. Her healing was truly a miracle.My thanks go out to Jeff for helping to heal my heart in new ways.

Poisoned is the story of the Jack In The Box E coli outbreak and the major players in that story. It is well written and holds your interest through the tragedies and triumphs that came out of this event. It follows how the corporation changed how they handled food, how the attorney who protected the rights of the victims became an advocate for food safety, and how this event changed how the public is protected against food poisoning. It includes the important information about the disease and the law, yet does an excellent job of making that information easy to understand by a layperson. If you know more about the science and law, it is written in a way that does not bore you. All in all, a book that can inform people about how our food supply works, and sometimes does not work, and the importance of food safety.

I bought this book as a required text for a class I took from the author. The book itself is respectable, particularly for the detailed research that went in to writing it, and it was mildly engaging (though I probably would have stopped reading it if I didn't have to take a test on it), but it's not something I'll ever pick up and read again.My real problem with the book is that the premise is a bit misleading. The book bills itself as "The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak that Changed the Way Americans Eat," but the real story, per the author's own words, is about the lawyer. Actually, all of Jeff Benedict's books are like that — they're about individual people more than the event. You're led to believe that the book is about the victims, but its really the story of two people we don't meet until a third of the way through the book — Bill Marler, an unheard-of lawyer with an unorthodox approach to litigation (buzzword!), who used the deadly e. coli outbreak to force fast food companies to think long and hard about food safety, and a consultant working for Jack-in-the-Box who rewrote the health and inspection standards that govern the national beef supply industry.

A promising start on a serious public health issue veers off into the deification of a young Seattle plaintiff's lawyer, Bill Marler.The Jack-in-the-Box E. coli incident of 1992 crystallized and exposed food safety dangers embedded in a complex beef distribution system. One that supported, and still supports, the craving for hamburgers of a fast food nation. USDA, Congress, the media, the emergence of new human pathogens, epidemiology, food traceability, etc. are all important to this story and Mr. Benedict at first gives these threads attention.Then instead of sticking to this important multifaceted story (except for his staying with the human drama of a young victim), the author spends most of his book on the behind the scenes legal maneuverings towards a settlement of Mr. Marler's case. Along the way we learn in detail about the ever selfless Mr. Marler's own personal love life and his employment odyssey between local law firms.An example of the author's detached evaluation of the main subject of this book: "Now fifty-three years old, Bill is the number one foodborne illness litigator in the world. But he's more than that. He's a food safety activist, a politician, and a media virtuoso ... "It came as no surprise to me in the book's "Acknowledgement" section to discover that the families of Mr. Benedict and Mr. Marler are now close friends.

This is an amazing book which gives you insight on how a company managed what was a terrible situation and turned it into a valuable lesson on the importance in food safety. Most companies don't survive recalls, but Jack in Box came out and was upfront with the public throughout the ordeal. Bill Marler has gone on to write on FoodSafetyNews.com which is a great website to keep track of recent recalls, outbreaks, outbreak findings, and how to improve food safety.If you work at all in anything food/feed related this is an important book to read.

This book gives heart-breaking accounts of the terrible suffering caused by meat companies' ignorance (if one is feeling charitable) or plain greed , if not.As leader of a Food Safety Team, I feel it should be compulsory reading for all food safety professionals and Meat Inspectors as it illustrates clearly exactly why we do what we do and shows us that we really are the last line of defence against a terrible and highly fatal disease.After reading this book, subscribe to the Market Blog but beware; you may not sleep easily again and you may never eat another beef burger !

As described - prompt delivery

as described

Book arrive don time in good condiiton. Well worh reading. Dr Wood.