Group offers assistance in latest E. coli outbreak By Tim Harty News-Chronicle Karen Taylor Mitchell spent her Friday calling every Wisconsin medium she could to get the word out about a national organization that assists victims of food-born diseases. Mitchell, the executive director of Safe Tables Our Priority, wants Wisconsinites, especially the ones stricken with E. coli during the current outbreak, to know they have a place to turn for help. Safe Tables Our Priority tries to provide information to victims by putting them in touch with medical experts and other victims of the disease to help them understand what they're going through. The organization's goal, Mitchell said, is to educate people about food-born diseases and work toward prevention of the diseases. Safe Tables Our Priority, founded in 1993 after the disease outbreak in Jack In the Box restaurants in California and the Seattle area, wants to improve public policies regarding processing and handling of food to protect consumers. "There are 325,000 people hospitalized annually with food-born diseases such as E. coli; 5,000 people die," said Mitchell. One element in particular about Wisconsin's latest two outbreaks of E. coli, totaling 52 cases, disturbs Mitchell. She thinks the public should have been notified sooner about what was happening. "Fifty-two laboratory-confirmed cases do not happen overnight," said Mitchell. "This has been going on awhile. The Public Health Department knew there was something up in August." It bothers her, too, that Emmpak Foods, a Milwaukee-based meat-packing company, is recalling 400,000 pounds of ground beef because the meat may be connected to the current E. Coli outbreak. This comes four months after Emmpak Foods recalled 471,000 pounds of ground beef because it may have been contaminated with E. coli. "Neither the company nor the USDA is taking the steps needed to stop it," said Mitchell. "There is more they could be doing. This is such an underrecognized problem. "People assume we have a public safety net that's keeping us safe. There's so many holes in it." FYI To contact Safe Tables Our Priority, a Vermont-based national organization that assists victims of food-born diseases, victims should call 1-800-350-STOP. Internet users can find out more about the organization at its web site, www.safetables.org. There is a link to the Wisconsin chapter on the site.