Peanut Butter Recall Results in First Lawsuit

01/22/09

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to date 470 people have fallen ill and six people have died from consuming the tainted peanut butter products. The disease has been traced to peanut butter that originated in The Peanut Corporation of America plant located in Georgia. Furthermore, several other manufacturers and grocery store chains have removed the peanut butter products from their shelves. THE FDA has recommended consumers avoid cookies, cakes, ice cream and other products that contain peanut butter or peanut butter paste. The FDA advises that peanut butter in jars at supermarkets is not affected by the recall and is safe to consume.


The lawsuit was filed by Gabrielle and Daryl Meunier, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, after the Vermont couple's 7-year-old son became ill with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea on Nov. 25. Tests performed at the hospital confirm that the 7-year-old tested positive for a strain of salmonella that is now confirmed to be linked to the peanut butter. (Meunier v. Peanut Corporation of America, No. 1:09-cv-00012 (M.D. Ga.).

According to Bill Marler, managing partner of Seattle's Marler Clark , who filed the lawsuit in Georgia, ''eventually the cases may get consolidated either by a court or through an MDL process and it's likely that Georgia will be the center of the attention since that's where the manufacturing facility is."

Peanut Corporation of America voluntarily recalled its products and in a prepared statement, Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corporation of America, stated, "We deeply regret that this product recall has expanded, and our first priority is to protect the health of our customers."

Marlin reported that he has been retained to represent 20 other clients nationwide who may file suits also. However, he doesn't anticipate that this recent outbreak will surpass the number of lawsuits filed in conjunction with the Peter Pan peanut butter recall in recent years.

A similar lawsuit is in the works to be filed in Minnesota State court by Fred Pritzker of Pritzker Law in Minneapolis on behalf of the family of a 72-year-old woman who died after consuming one of the peanut butter products in a nursing home. Pritzker predicts that the outbreak will expand and his firm will be representing more people as a result of the contaminated products.

The products being recalled by Kellogg Company include Austin Quality Foods, Keebler brands of peanut butter sandwich crackers and some packages of Famous Amos and Keebler peanut butter cookies. In addition, the FDA is investigating additional peanut products that may be linked to this outbreak.