The personal injury law firm of Allen & Allen has filed a $75 million lawsuit against Target Corporation; KeHE Distributors, LLC; KeHE Distributors, Inc.; KeHE Enterprises, LLC; World Finer Foods, Inc.; and World Finer Foods, LLC for distributing and selling soy nut butter that was contaminated with E. coli.
In March 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with state and local health officials, traced a multi-state outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli to I.M. Healthy brand soy nut butter that was manufactured by The SoyNut Butter Company and Dixie Dew Products, Inc. The contaminated soy nut butter was sold nationwide to consumers, daycares, and schools, and was recalled on March 3 and 7, 2017.
Some individuals who consumed the contaminated soy nut butter developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially life-threatening condition that affects the kidneys.
At the time of the outbreak, KeHE and World Finer distributed the soy nut butter to national retail stores including a Target store in Fairfax, Virginia, where one of the contaminated products was purchased.
Says Allen & Allen attorney Ashley T. Davis, who along with attorney Jason W. Konvicka, filed the lawsuit, “Food poisoning from E. coli can cause devastating injuries, including death. Fortunately, Virginia law allows us to hold manufacturers, distributors and retailers accountable for selling contaminated food to the public.”
According to a recent study, an estimated 93,094 illnesses are due to domestically acquired E. coli each year in the United States. Foodborne acquired cases result in an estimated 2,138 hospitalizations and 20 deaths annually.
