Posted January 21, 2014
On Friday, the U.S. attorney prosecuting the criminal case against Eric and Ryan Jensen recommended probation for the 2011 listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupe from Jensen Farms, according to an article by The Grower available here.
The U.S. attorney recommended five years probation for each brother, after the brothers filed requests for probation, saying “they had no knowledge that their fruit might be contaminated because a food safety auditor had given their operation a superior rating.” The maximum possible sentence for each is six years, one for each of the six criminal counts of “introducing an adulterated food into the supply chain.”
An investigation by the CDC confirmed that 33 died and 147 were sickened due to listeria monocytogenes infections contracted from Jensen Farms cantaloupe.
Sentencing is scheduled for January 28.
The probation requests “reference a pre-sentence investigation report, which is not a public document, saying the probation officer” who compiled the report “did not find any evidence the brothers were aware their equipment or procedures were substandard,” according to an article by The Packer available here.
Much of the evidence and arguments in the probation requests are “included in the Jensen’ federal lawsuit against PrimusLabs, whose parent company is Primus Group Inc.”
Three cases filed against PrimusLabs have been dismissed, according to an article by Produce News available here. The dismissals were issued in California, Wyoming federal court, and Oklahoma federal court.
In the Oklahoma case, Underwood v. Jensen Farms, No. 11-348 (U.S. Dist. Ct. E.D. Okla., decided December 31, 2013), the court determined that the “plaintiff could not show that the auditor owed him a duty under Oklahoma law.”
The court stated, “the connection between the July 25, 2011 audit and the onset of Plaintiff’s illness [was] too remote both in time and circumstance. Significantly, Plaintiff failed to plead facts sufficient to claim that the cantaloupe would not have been distributed if Primus had given Jensen Farms unsatisfactory audit results. To impose a duty on auditors absent a showing that such auditors maintained some control over the distribution of the manufactured goods would be illogical and impose an unreasonable burden on third-party auditors.” Lexology, provides additional information on the case here.
For more information on food safety, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
Share: