Wild Bird Food Company Sues Supplier for Selling Tainted PCA Peanut By-Products

Seeking “substantial damages,” a company that makes wild bird food has filed a lawsuit against a supplier that allegedly sold it peanut by-products originating from the Georgia facility linked to the Salmonella contamination outbreak. The Scotts Co., LLC v. Cereal Byproducts Co., No. 09-108 (S.D. Ohio, filed February 17, 2009). According to the complaint, the defendant sold and shipped peanut by-products to the plaintiff in December 2008 and January 2009, after it was known that the outbreak originated in the Blakely, Georgia, facility owned and operated by the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), and repeatedly “made false representations” that the by-products did not come from a potentially contaminated PCA facility. The plaintiff was allegedly forced to recall its suet wild bird food products and incurred unspecified costs and injury to goodwill. The complaint alleges breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and violations of Ohio’s deceptive trade practices law.