A consent decree has been issued against Miller’s Organic Farm of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania for violating USDA laws by avoiding inspections and misbranding meat and poultry. In November 2019, the U.S. government permanently enjoined the company and its owner, Amos Miller, for obstructing federal health and safety oversight and from selling uninspected meat to the company’s … Read more
Home Style Foods, a seafood and salad processor in Hamtramck, Michigan has been enjoined against producing and distributing ready-to-eat seafood salads, non-seafood salads, pierogis, and dips because they were processed under insanitary conditions, according to the Department of Justice. The complaint was filed on January 13, 2020 against the company and the company’s president, Michael … Read more
A federal judge struck down Iowa’s ag gag law last week. Those laws make it illegal for animal rights advocates to go undercover to expose animal abuse at farms and puppy mills. The 2012 law was approved by Iowa lawmakers, and carried a fine of up to year in jail. ACLU legal director Rita Bettis … Read more
An ag-gag law in Utah has been struck down. Earlier this month, the Utah attorney general said that no appeal would be filed in a federal court decision to end the law as unconstitutional. These laws criminalize video recording on ranches and farms that expose animal abuse. Members of animal rights groups pose as workers … Read more
According to Food & Water Watch, a federal court approved a settlement agreement, ending years of litigation over the Environmental Protection AGency’s (EPA) release of concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This will protect the public’s access to information about factory farm pollution. Industry groups sued the EPA … Read more
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia entered a consent decree of condemnation and permanent injunction against Valley Milk Products LLC on March 15, 2017. The decree orders the condemnation of seized milk powder products and prevents its distribution. The seizure action was filed in the Western District of Virginia on November … Read more
ConAgra Grocery Products LLC, a subsidiary of ConAgra Foods Incorporated, pled guilty yesterday to a criminal misdemeanor charge imposed over a massive Salmonella outbreak linked to its peanut butter in 2006. The Department of Justice announced the agreement on December 13, 2016. The company was ordered to pay an $8 million fine and a $3.2 … Read more
On November 22, 2016, noted food safety attorney Fred Pritzker and his team won a $7.55 million verdict for a child who contracted an E. coli infection and developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in 2013 after visiting Dehn’s Pumpkins, a business in Dayton, Minnesota. A jury in Hennepin County, Minnesota returned the verdict in favor … Read more
The owner of Oasis Brands, Inc., a Florida cheese company, was sentenced to 15 months in prison on November 15, 2016. Christian Rivas was sent to prison for distributing contaminated cheese that was associated with a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak in 2014 that sickened five people in four states. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. sentenced Mr. Rivas … Read more
The Harbor City Restaurant in Tippecanoe County, Indiana was closed by a court when the owner kept the restaurant open despite the health department’s order to close. A county employee saw the owner, Peter Wang, loading food for delivery on July 7, 2016, two days after health inspectors closed the restaurant after an inspection July … Read more