US Foster Farms sued regarding 17-month salmonella outbreak

California-based chicken producer Foster Farms has been sued by a Texas-based law firm, Ron Simon & Associates, over a salmonella outbreak that resulted in 634 people falling ill.

The outbreak, that is said to have started in early March 2013, lasted for around 17 months, ending in July last year.

The law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of six people who had become victims of the outbreak.

According to the lawsuit, Foster Farms was aware of its products being laced with salmonella, and yet continued selling them despite receiving numerous warning letters from federal health officials that the chicken would be harmful for its consumers.

Health officials had first detected salmonella in the company’s products in 2004, which led to 46 Salmonella Heidelberg illnesses. Another rise in instances of Salmonella Heidelberg illnesses occuring in 2009 were linked to products from the company.

In 2013, after some leftover Foster Farms chicken from a victim’s home in Washington State tested positive for one of the outbreak strains of Salmonella Heidelberg, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced an outbreak investigation against Foster Farms.

In June last year, an intact sample collected from another victim’s house tested positive for Salmonella Heidelberg, following which the company issued a limited recall of its products that led to a containment in the outbreak.

Lead attorney Ron Simon said in a statement: "For years, despite repeated warnings from the CDC and 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."

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Image: The company had refused to recall its products despite numerous warnings from health officials. Photo: courtesy of Foster Farms.