Food Safety Alert: The Problem With Meat Glue

April 21st, 2011. By Hunter West

Oh, you haven’t heard of meat glue? The food industry loves the stuff—and for good reason. Anything that would allow the morphing of a bucket of meat bits, like stewing beef for example, into what looks like a Grade A steak and commands a Grade A price at the counter, is akin to manna from heaven. 

To the untrained eye (meaning, you and me), it’s impossible to tell the difference. It looks like a steak. It grills like a steak. It tastes like a steak. But it’s not a steak, but rather chunks of meat that in a previous era would have been sold as stewing beef for a lot less than the kind of price a steak commands. But mix in some meat glue, roll it up and after six hours in the refrigerator, out comes a gelled roll that can be sliced into a series of lovely-looking, boneless steaks. 

The potential for fraud is obvious. Beyond the deception, however, why did the European Union ban meat glue last year? 

First, the back-story of what meat glue is. In fact, meat glue is actually an enzyme derived from thrombin and fibrogen, which is obtained from the blood plasma of swine and cattle. This is the stuff that causes blood to clot—and it also does a spiffy job, it turns out, of knitting small bits of meat together to appear like more expensive-looking steaks. 

Is meat glue harmful? Well, the European Food Safety Authority gave meat glue a positive safety opinion in 2005, only to ban it five years later. And a butcher participating in a story Read the rest of this entry »

Dying for Breath: When Asbestos Safety Gear Isn’t Safe

April 20th, 2011. By LucyC

When you hear the term ‘safety equipment’—defects are likely not the first thing that come to mind. You buy a respirator that has supposedly been tested for use in toxic environments and marketed based on the strength of that, and you could quite understandably think you’re good to go.

Well, maybe not. It seems that old adage—all things are not created equal—also applies to respirators. And this is a particularly serious issue if you use a respirator for work around asbestos, or coal, or other toxic substances.

Because asbestos is so hazardous to human health—it’s known to cause several types of diseases including cancer—the federal government introduced laws mandating the use of respirators for people who work around the mineral. This might include asbestos miners, people who work with asbestos insulation and the manufacture of goods containing asbestos. The idea behind the law is that the respirators would prevent tiny airborne asbestos particles from entering a person’s lungs and possibly causing asbestosis and asbestos mesothelioma, which is usually fatal. So, all in all—respirators are pretty important pieces of ‘safety equipment.’

The problem is that some respirators have been found to have design defects that pretty much make them useless. Worse, the person wearing the respirator will have no way of knowing that the piece of equipment they are trusting with their life is not working properly. They may only find out when, years later, they are diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.

And this is not an insignificant problem. Some estimates suggest that more than 84,000 lawsuits have been filed against 3M—a company that makes respirators—because the product failed to filter out asbestos particles. About a year ago—in April 2010—LawyersandSettlements.com interviewed Robert Rowland at the law firm Goldenberg Heller Antognoli & Rowland regarding asbestos litigation. They had been involved in defective respirator litigation, which had resulted in over $7.8 million in settlements for Illinois Coal Miners in claims against respirator manufacturers. They had also filed more than 250 asbestos lawsuits since 2008.

So who’s at risk? Asbestos is mainly used as an insulating material—it is a very effective fire retardant material, hence its use to insulate boilers, pipes, and fire doors; it’s used in roofing and many construction materials, and in electrical fittings. So, the types of work environments where you are most likely to encounter asbestos include mines, shipyards, railroads, power plants, and construction sites.

Workers who may be at risk for asbestos exposure include, but are not limited to:

• Boiler and furnace technicians

• Car mechanics (brake shoes)

• Construction workers

• Navy shipyard workers

• Pipe fitters

• Miners

• Railway workers

• Robert Rowland told LawyersandSettlements.com the following:

“Many of our clients are members of labor unions in various types of work such as refineries, power plants and steel mills; they built big department stores, grade schools, highways and bridges—all typical examples of people who have asbestos-related disease. Most of our clients are men over 60 years old. We also have represented women—wives and daughters—whose only connection to asbestos was washing their husband or father’s clothes. We bring a measure of hope to our clients, even those diagnosed with mesothelioma. We are able to take care of their families and relieve that pressure while they are battling the disease.

Who manufactures respirators?

• MSA Respirator
• American Optical Respirator
• Cabot Safety Respirator
• Willson Respirator
• Moldex Respirator

Before you buy a respirator do some checking—find out what you can about the company’s safety record—because being informed could save your life.

If you to know more about asbestos—check out our Asbestos FAQ.

Attorney Douglas Fox: Helping US Servicemen a “Humbling Responsibility”

April 19th, 2011. By BrendaC

Lawyers Giving Back looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we’re talking with attorney Douglas Fox of Cozen O’Connor law firm…

Attorney Douglas Fox: “If you are going to be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, the last thing you need is a legal problem on your mind.”

Attorney Douglas Fox

US military personnel have legal issues just like everybody else. And last year, the American Bar Association (ABA) saw a need to reach out to US servicemen and servicewomen and connect them with lawyers who were willing help on a pro bono basis.

“We jumped at the chance,” says attorney Douglas Fox, whose firm, Cozen O’Connor, was asked to become one of the founding members of the ABA Pro Bono Military Project. 

“We thought it was an incredibly exciting and humbling responsibility and opportunity to help active servicemen and women. If you are going to be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, the last thing you need is a legal problem on your mind and we felt this was a way for lawyers to give back.“ 

Even before volunteering to be a founding member of the Pro Bono US Military Project, Cozen O’Connor had an impressive pro bono track record. Last year alone according to Fox, who heads the firm’s pro bono committee, Cozen O’Connor attorneys did more than 16,000 pro bono hours—with a total time value of some $6 million. 

“These were hours given to those who otherwise would not have been able to access legal services,” says Fox. “We handle all kinds of pro bono cases, from very high visibility cases to cases that don’t make the headlines, like the pro bono military project cases, but they are equally important to us and they are, of course, important to our clients.” 

In the high-profile category you can include Lozano v. Hazelton, a civil rights case that is now before the Supreme Court. For the last four years, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others, Cozen O’Connor has being fighting a Hazelton, Pennsylvania city bylaw that would punish landlords and employers who rent to or hire so-called illegal aliens.

Cozen O’Connor has several hundred lawyers with 20 offices across the US and is also represented in London and Toronto.  Although it is a general practice firm, its lawyers don’t do a lot of family law. With the Pro Bono US Military Project, Fox says, “This is an opportunity for our lawyers who don’t practice family law to go outside their comfort zone. It is something that lawyers who take on these cases are anxious to do because they know the need is so great.” 

“Many of the cases are family law cases. They are adoptions, child support, divorces—cases of that nature. They are issues that need to be dealt with in order to put the minds of the servicemen and women at ease,” Fox adds. 

“There is no question, even today with this program, not all of the legal needs of military personnel are being met,” says Fox.  “Even with the great work of the ABA Pro Bono Military Project we know there are needs that are not being met, however, we have been very excited to do what we can do.” 

Douglas Fox concentrates his practice in subrogation and recovery, property insurance, commercial and civil litigation. Before joining Cozen O’Connor in 1985, Fox served as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. Fox has also previously served on the board of directors of the Philadelphia Committee to End Homelessness.

Did You Use FreeCreditReport.com? There’s a Class Action…

April 19th, 2011. By AbiK

So a couple years ago you were kicking back listening to the “F to the R to the E to the E…” Free Credit Report dot com commercial and thinking these guys were pretty funny acting out every wannabe’s worst nightmare: being relegated to the ranks of the uncool for being duped by a lousy credit score.

I’m sure a few—hell, quite a few—folks made a mental note of that web address (freecreditreport.com) and checked it out. Who wouldn’t want to know their credit score? Especially when it’s “free” and it could keep you out of a sub-compact car, your inlaws’ basement digs, or a Renaissance Faire. So you were game. And you headed over to freecreditreport.com with visions of a tricked out Ferrari in your head.

Ahh…but you didn’t quite notice a few things—red flags—that the savvier credit score hound might’ve. Like, the score you get is not the one lenders use to determine whether they’ll cough up a loan or let you drive that sleek cherry tomato red Porsche off the lot. No, the score you’ll get at freecreditscore.com is called the PLUS score, and according to Experian—one of the big 3 credit score companies along with Equifax and TransUnion—the PLUS score is not the one that is sold to lenders. (Your FICO score is the one lenders use.)

Translation: while your PLUS score may be a barometer of your creditworthiness, it’s basically worth squat when you’re sitting at the dealership desk waiting for Mr. Carsalesman to ‘talk to his manager’. I should mention here that it’s Experian who owns ConsumerInfo.com…which owns…freecreditreport.com and freecreditscore.com.

Say what? Yes, the folks you rely on to provide lenders with your credit score have been advertising a service—that’s “free” but not really free—for you to get your credit score—but not THAT credit score; not the one you really need to know. The service isn’t free as it’s really a come on for a credit monitoring service that you pay for after an initial trial period of 7 days. If you cancel before then, there’s no charge; if not, you get charged.

Thankfully there are some savvy consumers out there and as LawyersandSettlements.com recently reported, a class action has been filed against ConsumerInfo.com. No one knows ConsumerInfo really, so I’m sure this one will be known as the freecreditreport.com class action or the class action about that credit score site with the cool commercials. Regardless, if you got your credit score from freecreditreport.com or freecreditscore.com, then you may be part of the class. Here’s what you need to know…

FreeCreditReport.com Class Action or FreeCreditScore.com Class Action Details

Class Members: Any one who purchased services from ConsumerInfo.com, FreeCreditReport.com or FreeCreditScore.com during the class period

Class Period: March 22, 2007 to present

For More Info: Read more about the FreeCreditReport.com class action and/or submit your ConsumerInfo.com – FreeCreditReport.com complaint.

Closing tidbit—the front man of the band on those commercials was musician and actor Eric Violette from Canada. ConsumerInfo.com has since not only shifted their focus from credit “reports” to credit “scores“, they’ve also brought in a new band, which from comments I’ve seen, has upheld the maxim that sequels are typically never as good as the original.

Sears Lawsuit: DieHard Confused with Sex Delay Spray?

April 18th, 2011. By LucyC

The Sex Spray…

900 Cold Cranking Amps in your Crotch? Question: What do a car battery marketed by Sears and a male numbing agent have in common? Answer: A name. Well, not just any name—the name Die Hard—or is that DieHard? You know—as in the Bruce Willis movies. 

And why is this relevant to you? It’s not—necessarily. But Sears Roebuck and Co, thinks it could be. In fact, they think the similarity in names could be confusing—and that you may have difficulty in telling the respective products apart. Just to be clear—those products are a car battery and a “numbing agent for male genitalia.” 

So, Sears, and its subsidiary KCD—the company that owns the name DIEHARD, are suing RockHard—the makers of Die Hard—over the matter. 

The federal suit, filed last week in Chicago, reportedly states that RockHard Laboratories’ Die Hard product is “calculated to deceive the consuming public into believing that defendants’ products have a relationship with plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ goods and services.”

The Battery. Separated at Birth?

According to a report on WLS 890AM—the suit states that “the defendants’ conduct is likely to cause confusion, mistake, and deception of the purchasing public insofar as purchasers would incorrectly be led to believe

that defendants are affiliated with, related to, sponsored by or connected with plaintiffs,” the suit argues.

OK. I give up. What possible benefit could there be in that for the defendants? What thinking person is seriously likely to believe that strapping a car battery to his backside is going to improve his sexual performance? Or, that KCD/DIEHARD, under which Sears sells the batteries, auto parts, hats and boots—is seriously likely to branch out into male sexual enhancement products? Maybe there’s a role for the hats and boots—but as for the rest of it—I think that’s a bit of a stretch (pardon the pun). 

But hey, what do I know. 

As for RockHard, it has apparently been marketing the Die Hard ‘numbing agent’ since 2010. Just as an aside, I’d be rethinking the name—lawsuit or not. It hardly invokes confidence. Think about it. 

Apparently, RockHard Laboratories stands accused of not one, not two—but eight federal crimes, including trademark infringement, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices. Sounds like RockHard is about to get stiffed. 

Once Bitten Twice Robbing? A 33-year old man who was arrested in Glendale after biting a police dog—who he claims bit him—is now suing the police, alleging that the dog violated his civil rights, and used excessive force to capture him. Okee dokee. 

Erin Sullivan, the dog biter, was attempting to escape the police during a burglary investigation in Glendale, when, I’m guessing, the dog took control of the situation. Of course the fact that Sullivan was breaking the law by committing a robbery seems to have escaped him. The police claim that Sullivan injured the dog when he bit the pooch.  

The lawsuit reportedly names the cities of Phoenix and Glendale and four officers as defendants. Sullivan was apparently hoping to get $200,000 from Glendale and $250,000 from Phoenix. Sounds like the robbery is still in progress, even though Sullivan is currently serving an eight year sentence for the physical crime.

Purse Snatcher Can’t Get Away, Calls 911. So, who should you call if you find yourself in a bit of a jam—being chased by an irate woman whose purse you just snatched, and an eyewitness driving a snow plow? Why, 911. Of course. 

Eighteen year-old Cody Bragg was recently sentenced to nine years in prison for the purse snatching. He had grabbed the purse from a woman in a parking lot outside Wal-Mart in Alliance, Ohio. But he clearly got more than he bargained for and called 911—telling the dispatcher “There is this guy in a snow plow that is following me, and, uh, he’s scaring me.” 

I think it’s only a matter of time before there’s an App for 911.