Perdue Sued for Adding Extra Giblets to Whole Chickens
A New Jersey resident has filed a putative class action lawsuit in federal court against Perdue Farms, Inc., alleging that the company is forcing consumers to subsidize the company’s costs of disposing of extra giblet parts by “a secret practice” of inserting them into whole chickens sold by the pound to retail customers. Marin v. Perdue Farms, Inc., No. 08-001 (D.N.J., filed December 17, 2008). The plaintiff seeks relief on behalf of a “(b)(2) Injunctive Relief Class” consisting of “All persons who purchased Perdue whole chicken at retail” and a “(b)(3) Multi-State Sub-Class” consisting of those who purchased whole chickens at retail “in the states of New Jersey, California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington.”
The complaint alleges violations of consumer protection acts and unjust enrichment, and seeks “a declaration that “only the proportional amount of giblets are to be packaged in a whole chicken,” damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and an order “[c]ompelling Defendant to establish a program to inspect processed whole chickens to eliminate the packaging of extra giblets.” According to a Perdue spokesperson, “While it is company practice not to comment on pending litigation, I can tell you the majority of our giblets complaints are about MISSING giblets. We just received the lawsuit and will review it in more detail, but we anticipate a vigorous defense.” Wall Street Journal law blog lead
writer Dan Slater, responding to news about the lawsuit, commented, “But aren’t gizzards the best part? Clearly these people have never tasted a good chicken giblet gravy.” See WSJ Law Blog, December 18, 2008.
