Farmers may become more wary about food safety if Wal-Mart
wins a lawsuit it has filed against Jensen Farms, suppliers of canteloupe blamed
for poisoning 33 people who died of listeriosis in 2011.
Victims’ families and survivors are pursuing a lawsuit that
names Wal-Mart, Jensen Farms, middlemen and food-safety auditors they hired.
That’s normal in these kinds of cases, but what’s unusual is
that Wal-Mart has decided to sue all of the supply-chain companies and a
third-party auditor, says Bill Marler, lawyer acting for 45 victims.
Food-safety communicator Dr. Douglas Powell
reports that a complaint filed in Wyoming federal court in late January has
Wal-Mart asserting third-party claims against Edinburg, Texas, distributor
Frontera Produce Ltd., auditors Primus Group Inc. and Bio Food Safety Inc., and
Jensen Farms. Primus subcontracted Bio Food Safety to undertake the on-site
audit of the cantaloupe farm, which resulted in a superior rating of 96%.
The third-party complaint is tied to a wrongful
death lawsuit brought in Wyoming against Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart by
Frederick Lollar, the husband of the deceased woman.
