The Aftermath of Foodborne Illness

    CHICAGO, IL, April 27, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Jeff Almer loved his mother, Shirley. He says, "My mother loved this country. She was a determined and energetic woman committed to her Minnesota community, family and friends. Jeff won't be celebrating Mother's Day this year, and hasn't been able to since Shirley Almer of Perham, MN, passed away after consuming tainted peanut butter while recovering and surviving two bouts of cancer.

Jeff's mission this Mother's Day is to urge people to advocate and educate people about foodborne illnesses.

Shirley's story
After her husband passed away unexpectedly in 1990, Shirley took over the family's bowling alley, and assisted with financing a second bowling center in the area. When she retired a few years later, she continued to be a part of the bowling league and stayed active through gardening, bird-watching, and spending time with her five children and four grandchildren.

After battling two bouts with lung and brain cancer in 2007 and 2008, Shirley was declared cancer-free in October 2008. A few weeks later she checked into a short-term rehab care facility for the treatment of a relatively normal urinary tract infection, and was due to be home by Christmas.

Two days before her scheduled release, Shirley began to suffer minor breathing difficulties. She also had complained of extreme cramping and diarrhea. Her family was devastated and caught totally off-guard when doctors told them she had just hours to live as she was suffering from what they thought was a severe case of pneumonia. Shirley passed away on December 21, 2008.

Nearly two weeks later, the grieving family read an article in the local newspaper about an unidentified northern Minnesota woman had recently died from eating peanut butter contaminated with Salmonella. Her family grew suspicious about the circumstances of Shirley's death and contacted the Minnesota Department of Health. They were stunned to learn then that their mother was the woman referred to in the newspaper article; she had died not from pneumonia but from salmonella in peanut butter.

Since Shirley's untimely death, her family members have become advocates for reforming America's food safety system. Shirley loved this country but was let down by a broken and ineffective food safety system. Cancer couldn't claim her, but contaminated peanut butter did.

Stewart Parnell, the former peanut executive convicted for his role in a nationwide salmonella outbreak in 2008 and 2009 that killed Shirley and eight other people, was sentenced to 28 years in prison at the federal courthouse in Albany, GA. Federal officials had recommended that Parnell receive a life sentence -- the harshest punishment ever for a food-related crime.

Remember to be vigilant: if you suspect a family member might have contracted foodborne illness, encourage his or her health care providers to test for it, and the earlier the better.

To learn more about foodborne illness, visit http://www.stopfoodborneillness.org. To support the organization, please donate. Follow STOP news here.

About STOP Foodborne Illness
STOP Foodborne Illness (STOP) is a national, nonprofit, public health organization dedicated to preventing illness and death from foodborne pathogens. STOP achieves its mission by advocating for sound public policies, building public awareness and assisting those impacted by foodborne illness. www.stopfoodborneillness.org.

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