Bill Marler: 25 Years of Food Safety

Bill Marler discusses his relationship with the late Dave Theno and how the Jack in the Box case propelled both their careers 25 years earlier, comparing it to the current South African listeriosis outbreak. He explains why hamburger E. coli cases "are no longer a huge problem" and how the Odwalla apple juice outbreak could have been avoided through pasteurization. The wide-ranging conversation covers whether Salmonella should be declared an adulterant (like E. coli O157:H7), the balance of responsibility between consumers and the food industry, and Stewart Parnell's attempts at a new trial in the Peanut Corporation of America case. Marler has secured over $650 million for victims through lawsuits against Cargill, Chipotle, ConAgra, Dole, McDonald's, and dozens of other major companies. He addresses FSMA implementation improvements, emerging technologies like blockchain and whole-genome sequencing changing food safety, and his "newfound interest in public health as it relates to food safety." Awarded the NSF Food Safety Leadership Award for Education in 2010, Marler has testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the British House of Lords while establishing numerous collegiate science scholarships nationwide.