Source: Rita Jane Gabbet, MEATINGPLACE, 3/12/18



In a precedent-setting food safety case, an Arizona federal court jury on March 1 returned a verdict in the amount of $6.5 million in favor of a 5-and-a-half-year-old child who suffered a brain injury in 2013 as a result of a Salmonella Heidelberg infection from what was believed to be chicken produced by Foster Poultry Farms, Pritzker Hageman P.A., the lawfirm representing the child, announced.

The case established that chicken producers can be held responsible for Salmonella contamination on raw chicken product even though the USDA does not consider Salmonella an adulterant in raw chicken and even though the bacteria can be killed by cooking the chicken.

The jury concluded that Foster Farms was negligent in producing Salmonella Heidelberg-contaminated chicken and that, based on epidemiological and microbiological evidence alone, it caused Noah Craten’s illness. The jury attributed 30 percent of the fault to Foster Farms and 70 percent to family members for their preparation of the chicken. The net verdict for the family was $1.95 million.

Foster Poultry Farms argued that because Salmonella contamination is natural to raw chicken, it cannot form the basis of liability. The company also asserted that there was no evidence that the child ever consumed its product because the plaintiffs could not produce shopper card records, receipts, or other direct evidence that they had purchased Foster Farms chicken.
The plaintiffs introduced evidence that Foster Farms’ entire operation was contaminated with particularly dangerous strains of Salmonella Heidelberg, including the strain that sickened Noah Craten. The jury considered evidence of prior foodborne illness outbreaks linked to Foster Farms and epidemiological evidence that Noah Craten was part of a very large Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other health departments. According to the CDC, 639 people from 29 states were sickened in the Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak from March 1, 2013 to July 11, 2014.

After the 2013/2014 outbreak, Fosters Farms implemented a $75 million food safety program that lowered its incidence of salmonella to well below the industry average. The company also shared its successful best practices with the rest of the poultry industry.  

"I’m troubled by the verdict since the family could not produce any evidence that they even purchased the product," said Shawn Stevens, a food safety lawyer who also writes a blog for Meatingplace. "Moreover, I think the 70 percent fault that the jury attributed to the family is telling. In many states, this would have precluded the plaintiffs from recovering anything. Regardless of the allegations against the company, the fact remains that poultry can carry bacteria, and if the plaintiffs had followed the federally mandated safe handling warnings, the illness would have been avoided."

Foster Farms issued the following statement in response to the verdict:
Foster Farms recognizes the federal verdict in the matter of Noah Craten vs. Foster Farms. In reaching a verdict of $6.5 million associated with a 2013 Salmonella illness, the jury assessed 70 percent of the damages ($4.55 million) as being the responsibility of the Craten family, while assigning 30 percent of the damages ($1.95 million) to Foster Farms.
It is important to note that family shopping records presented at the trial, covering the six month period prior to the onset of illness, failed to demonstrate the purchase of Foster Farms chicken. Regardless of the source of illness, Foster Farms is pleased that Noah Craten has recovered.

It is in the interest of all poultry producers to ensure that the safest possible product reaches the marketplace. Since 2013, Foster Farms has instituted a multi-hurdle Salmonella control program and committed to a company-wide Salmonella prevalence level of 5 percent in whole body chickens and parts. This compares to the USDA permissible level of 9.8 percent for whole body chickens and 15.4 percent for parts.

Foster Farms’ current food safety performance record is recognized as being among the best in the US poultry industry, and the company is committed to advancing food safety for the benefit of consumers, customers and the poultry industry.

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