Salmonella Class-Action Suits Filed

The salmonella scandal entered its legal phase on Sunday as a class action suit was begun against Israeli companies that were allegedly negligent in keeping contaminated supplies off the market, Globes reported.

Shamir Salads, Prince Tehina, Shufersal and Yohananoff supermarket chains were named in a request for approval in Lod District Court for a class action suit totaling 6.7 billion shekels.

The suit was filed on behalf of Israeli consumers “who feel anxious about their own health and the health of their children, anger, uncertainty, and disgust at eating the products of the respondents, suspected of salmonella bacteria contamination.”

The lawsuit accuses the producers of negligence in not conducting lab tests on their products, and that Prince had also concealed information from the public.

The issue of reliance of Shamir Salads, Shufersal and Yohananoff on tests carried out by Prince, without conducting their own independent tests.

“It is probable that if the respondents would have detected the presence of salmonella bacteria in their products in advance, they could have prevented them from being marketed to retail chains. The suit will claim that the respondents had operated with extreme negligence…and fundamentally violated the agreement between them and the products’ consumers, making profit in an unjust manner.”