Peanut Corporation of America Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak Lawsuits and Litigation 2008-2009
An outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium that was first documented in September 2008 was linked to peanut butter in January 2009. There are 714 documented illnesses in 46 states and infection with the outbreak strain may have contributed to nine deaths. The outbreak was traced to a processing plant owned and operated by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), located in Blakely, GA. The plant made both peanut butter and peanut paste, which was sold to many different companies for use in their products. Salmonella was also found in PCA’s Plainview, TX plant. In one of the largest food recalls in US history, all production from both facilities since January 1, 2007 has been recalled, impacting more than 3600 products.
On January 20, Marler Clark’s Salmonella lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Vermont child who was sickened in the outbreak, and on January 29, filed a second Salmonella lawsuit on behalf of a 3-year-old California boy. After the FDA report on findings at the plant, Marler Clark added punitive claims to the first lawsuit. The National Law Journal wrote about the punitive action in a January 2009 article.
The Peanut Corporation of America Filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy on February 13. The stay of bankruptcy was later lifted, and Marler Clark filed 109 lawsuits against PCA on behalf of victims of the Salmonella outbreak traced to its peanut and peanut butter products.
Members of two families that Marler Clark represents testified in front of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation on February 11, 2009.
PRESS RELEASES
April 22, 2009 Salmonella Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Family of Minnesota Man Felled by Peanut Butter
March 9, 2009 WA Family Files Salmonella Lawsuit Against Kellogg Company in Contaminated Peanut Butter Outbreak
February 19, 2009 Marler Clark Fights Peanut Corp Bankruptcy on Behalf of California Child Sickened in Salmonella Outbreak
February 18, 2009 Salmonella Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Minneapolis Children Sickened by Peanut Butter
February 18, 2009 Marler Clark Files Salmonella Lawsuit on Behalf of Las Vegas Child Sickened by Peanut Butter
February 5, 2009 Kellogg’s Added to Marler Clark Peanut Butter Lawsuit
January 30, 2009 Amid Massive Peanut Butter Recall, Marler Clark Files Second Salmonella Lawsuit
January 28, 2009 Marler Clark Adds Punitive Claim to Salmonella Peanut Butter Lawsuit Against PCA
January 20, 2009 Lawsuit Filed in Nationwide Outbreak of Salmonella in Peanut Butter
January 17, 2009 FDA Must Widen Peanut Butter Recalls
