The High Court of England and Wales has reportedly held DJ Houghton Chicken Catching Services liable for claims brought by six Lithuanian men who allege they were victims of trafficking. The company lost its license after police raids in 2012 found what the Gangmasters Licensing Authority called “the worst UK gangmaster ever.” The men assert that during their employment catching chickens for the company, they were denied sleep and toilet breaks, charged illegal work-finding fees, abused and assaulted, denied minimum wages and provided dirty, overcrowded and unsafe living quarters. The owners of the company argued that a Lithuanian supervisor was at fault for the treatment, but the court reportedly found that the supervisor’s methods were integral to business operations, leaving the company liable for his actions. The attorney representing the Lithuanian men told The Guardian, “This is the first time a British company has been found liable for victims of…
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A New York federal court has dismissed a putative class action alleging Whole Foods Market Group overcharged its customers for some prepackaged foods, finding that the plaintiffs failed to specify any particular transactions in which the grocer overcharged them. In re Whole Foods Mkt. Grp., Inc. Overcharging Litig., No. 15-5838 (S.D.N.Y., order entered March 1, 2016). The complaint was filed after the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) announced the results of its investigation into “systemic overcharging” at Whole Foods stores across the city. The plaintiffs alleged that they “regularly purchased”—“one or two times per month”—pre-packaged products from Whole Foods that the DCA identified in its press release, including cheese, cupcakes and chicken fingers. The court took issue with the plaintiffs’ reliance on the DCA press release, finding that its “statements fall very far short of reporting an investigative finding of ubiquitous, systematic over-weighting at Whole Foods’ New…
A Shanghai court has reportedly fined three Chinese technology companies for their part in spreading rumors that KFC fare is produced with “mutant chickens” with eight legs and six wings. KFC filed a lawsuit in June 2015 seeking damages for economic losses and damage to its reputation. The court reportedly ordered the companies to make an official apology and pay a total of $91,191 (600,000 yuan) to KFC. Additional details about the lawsuit appear in Issue 567 of this Update. See Reuters, February 2, 2016. Issue 593
An Ohio appeals court has affirmed a lower court decision finding that two consumers’ mislabeling allegations against The Kroger Co. are preempted by the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA). Arnold v. Kroger Co., No. C-150291 (Ohio Ct. App., 1st App. D., Hamilton Cty., order entered January 22, 2016). The consumers alleged Kroger’s chickens were not subjected to “a humane environment” as the company advertised and thus were not worth the premium the store charged. The trial court dismissed the claims as preempted by the PPIA, and the plaintiffs appealed. The appeals court was unpersuaded by the plaintiffs’ argument that the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS’) inspection and approval of Kroger’s slaughtered chickens were insufficient to determine whether the chickens were in a humane environment while alive. “FSIS has determined that humane treatment of poultry directly implicates its fitness for human consumption because ‘under the PPIA, poultry products are more…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized standards that seek to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground chicken and turkey products, as well as raw chicken breasts, legs and wings. Part of the Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS’) effort to revamp the poultry inspection system, the new rules require routine sampling throughout the year rather than infrequent sampling on consecutive days, and authorize the agency to publicize facility results online. “Over the past seven years, USDA has put in place tighter and more strategic food safety measures than ever before for meat and poultry products. We have made strides in modernizing every aspect of food safety inspection, from company record keeping, to labeling requirements, to the way we perform testing in our labs,” said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a February 4, 2016, news release. “These new standards, in combination with greater transparency about poultry companies’ food safety…
A California federal court has granted Foster Farms’ request for declaratory judgment finding that Lloyd’s of London must cover $14 million in costs related to a Salmonella outbreak linked to Foster Farms’ chicken processing facilities. Foster Poultry Farms Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, No. 14-0446 (E.D. Cal., order entered October 9, 2015). Foster Farms’ policy with the insurer included coverage for “Accidental Contamination,” requiring the company to show (i) “an error in the production of its chicken product” and (ii) that consumption of the product “‘would ‘lead to’ bodily injury.” Lloyd’s challenged Foster Farms’ showing of the latter requirement, arguing the destroyed products were not actually contaminated with Salmonella. The court concluded the company had shown the products were contaminated because at the time the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Safety Inspection Service issued its Notice of Suspension, Foster Farms’ products had tested positive for Salmonella for…
A consumer has filed a putative class action against Foster Poultry Farms, Inc. alleging that the company’s label misleads by displaying an American Humane Association (AHA) certification logo because that certification does not indicate a higher, more humane standard for raising chickens. Leining v. Foster Poultry Farms, Inc., No. BC588044 (Cal. Super. Ct., filed July 13, 2015). The complaint asserts that Foster Farms markets itself as a humane producer of chicken products and charges higher prices accordingly. The plaintiff believed that this marketing message communicated that the chickens at Foster Farms “lived a life without disease and discomfort and were afforded a quick and painless death.” She argues, however, “the AHA certification standards permit practices throughout all phases of the production process that, if known, would not be considered humane either by the reasonable consumer or even under the AHA’s own definition of humane meat production.” The complaint details each of…
Six consumers have filed a lawsuit against Foster Poultry Farms alleging that the company knowingly sold chicken tainted with Salmonella that sickened the plaintiffs with salmonellosis syndrome. Melendez v. Foster Poultry Farms, No. BC586891 (Cal. Super. Ct., Los Angeles Cty., filed July 2, 2015). The complaint asserts that Foster Farms refused to issue a recall after it knew of a link between its products and incidents of Salmonella infections. Foster Farms “begrudgingly initiated a very limited recall of its tainted chicken on July 12, 2014,” the plaintiffs argue, only after the investigators tested a Foster Farms product from a sickened consumer’s home and it tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella. The complaint further alleges that Foster Farms promoted the growth of the bacteria by failing to meet operational and food safety standards in the months before the outbreak. The plaintiffs allege strict product liability, negligence and breach of…
Following a request from Iowa Senators Joni Ernst (R) and Chuck Grassley (R), the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will convene a hearing on July 7, 2015, to discuss the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), H5N2. The outbreak has “decimated” turkey, chicken and other poultry flocks in 15 states, and an estimated 30 million birds in Iowa have been affected. “This is an important opportunity to bring leaders and key stakeholders together to review the pandemic spread of this deadly disease, identify areas for improvement within response procedures, and set the state to ensure we are better prepared in the future,” Ernst was quoted as saying. Increases in wholesale table egg prices have reportedly “begun to reverse due to buyer resistance and limited demand,” according to the agriculture department’s Agricultural Marketing Service. See Press Release of Sen. Charles Grassley, June 11, 2015; The New…
Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC has announced on its Chinese-language website that it has filed lawsuits against three Chinese media companies for allegedly spreading rumors that the company has bred its chickens to have eight legs and six wings. The complaint, filed in Shanghai Xuhui District People’s Court, reportedly alleges that the media companies disseminated false information on social media about KFC’s food quality, including digitally altered photos of deformed chickens and rumors of maggots in a delivery order. KFC has more than 4,600 restaurants in China, accounting for about one-half of its revenue. The company reportedly alleges that 4,000 defamatory messages were viewed more than 100,000 times and seeks 1.5 million yuan, or about US$242,000, from each media company as well as an apology. See The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, June 1, 2015. Issue 567
