A lawsuit has been filed against Foster Farms alleging the US poultry processor knowingly sold chicken contaminated with salmonella "for years" and ignored warnings from health officials.
According to national food safety law firm Ron Simon & Associates the tainted chicken has been linked to over 600 illnesses across the country.
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The lawsuit, filed on behalf of six victims of the outbreak, claims Foster Farms knew its chicken was contaminated but kept selling the chicken for years despite warning letters from federal health officials the chicken would injure the public.
The US Department of Agriculture said salmonella cases linked to Foster Farms date back to 2004, the law firm claimed. Lawyers alleged Foster Farms repeatedly refused to issue recalls of its products.
The lawsuit claims Foster Farms only "begrudgingly initiated a very limited recall of an undetermined amount of chicken products" after a boy was hospitalised last June for a "severe" salmonella heidelberg infection linked to one of its products.
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"For years, despite repeated warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention USDA, Foster Farms refused to recall or even warn the public about its contaminated chicken while that chicken was poisoning hundreds of consumers. This litigation will examine those decisions and hold Foster Farms accountable for its egregious behavior," the lawsuit said.
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By GlobalDataAttorney Ron Simon told just food there were 634 confirmed victims and while it filed on behalf of six victims it had since been contacted by "several more".
"We are seeking recovery of medical bills, lost wages, and the pain and suffering caused by the illnesses. In addition, we are seeking punitive damages because Foster Farms knew about their rampant salmonella contamination problem for years and refused to warn the public or recall the tainted products," he said.
Foster Farms said they believed the lawsuit was "without merit" but did not comment when asked why it had not issued a recall until last summer.
In a statement, the company said its current food safety performance record is "among the best in the poultry industry."
"Over the last year, the company has consistently limited salmonella prevalence in raw poultry parts to 5% or less – a level that is three times lower than the 15.4% standard proposed by USDA and five times lower than the latest USDA-measured industry benchmark of 25%. In 2013, Foster Farms developed a $75m, multi-faceted food safety programme that reduced salmonella system-wide from the breeder level, to the farms where the birds are raised, to the plants where the chicken is processed and packaged. "
