In recent years, there has been a substantial decrease in the number of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses linked to contaminated ground beef. As a result, there has been a significant decrease in the number of lawsuits filed by consumers relating to E. coli O157:H7 illnesses. Although this is good news, E. coli can still cause serious health consequences. Now, with decades of experience managing ground beef E. coli claims, we explore briefly how these cases are typically valued.
Every package of raw ground beef carries a federally mandated safe-handling label warning consumers that, although “inspected and passed” by USDA, the product may nevertheless contain bacteria that could cause illness if improperly handled or cooked. In turn, when E. coli makes someone sick, the primary defense is the consumer failed to handle or cook the product properly. Put another way, if the safe-handling instructions had been followed, the consumer would not have gotten sick.