Seafood Spread Maker Sues Packer for Adding Egg to Product

A company that sells a variety of seafood spreads has sued one of its packers,
which allegedly added undeclared eggs to the company’s smoked salmon
spread. Sau-Sea Foods, Inc. v. Lukas Foods, Inc., No. 11-00104 (D.
Me., filed March 23, 2011). The plaintiff apparently learned about the problem
after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the defendant’s
facility and discovered that eggs had been used in the spread, thus “posing
a potential health hazard.” A recall was immediately undertaken and widely
reported in the media. Thereafter, FDA allegedly informed the plaintiff that
its salmon spread “posed an acute, life-threatening hazard to health” and
designated the recall as Class I.

Alleging breach of contract, breach of express and implied warranties, negligence, unjust enrichment, breach of implied contract, and negligent misrepresentation, Sau-Sea Foods seeks damages, interest, costs, and attorney’s fees. While the company alleges damages exceeding the $75,000 jurisdictional minimum, it does not otherwise quantify its losses, which allegedly include “loss of revenues, loss of profits, injury to reputation, and loss of goodwill.”