Court Allows Salmonella Claims to Proceed Despite Negative Body Fluid Cultures

A federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) court in Georgia has denied ConAgra Foods’ motion for summary judgment in a case involving claims that tainted peanut butter caused a man’s salmonellosis. In re: ConAgra Peanut Butter Prods. Liab. Litig. (Kidd) v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., MDL No. 1845, No. 07-1415 (N.D. Ga., decided May 4, 2011). Bobby Joe Kidd claimed that after he ate Peter Pan® peanut butter he was hospitalized with abdominal pain and nausea. Blood and urine samples taken during his stay apparently tested negative for Salmonella and other infectious agents. ConAgra relied on the negative tests to argue that Kidd would be unable to show that it was more likely than not that contaminated peanut butter caused his illness.

The court disagreed, finding sufficient evidence “to allow a reasonable jury to
infer that contaminated peanut butter caused his symptoms.” Kidd’s records
“indicate that he ate recalled peanut butter and experienced Salmonella-like
symptoms within the incubation period for Salmonellosis.” According to a
board-certified internist, “a Salmonella infection in Kidd’s GI tract would not
have appeared in his blood or urine cultures unless the infection had spread
to his blood or bladder.” No stool samples were evidently taken.