Earlier this month an Arizona federal court jury returned a $6.5 million verdict in favor of a five-and-a-half-year-old child who suffered a brain injury in 2013 because of a Salmonella Heidelberg infection allegedly from chicken produced by Foster Poultry Farms.  Significant aspects of this case include the following:

• The US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) does not consider Salmonellaan adulterant since the bacteria can be killed by cooking the chicken.
• The jury attributed 30 percent of the fault to Foster Farms and 70 percent to the family for their preparation of the chicken.
• The Foster’s Farm statement after the verdict noted that “the family shopping records presented at the trial, covering the six-month period prior to the onset of illness, failed to demonstrate the purchase of Foster Farms chicken.”
• The law firm representing the child stated the ruling establishes a precedent that “producers can be held responsible for Salmonella contamination on raw chicken, despite the USDA stance.

”More details can be found in  “Court says Foster Farms responsible in Salmonella case,” from Meat+Poultry.