Dive Brief:
- Foster Farms has filed a lawsuit against the pest-control company Orkin saying it failed to meet its obligation to keep their facilities free of cockroaches.
- Federal inspectors ordered the poultry processor to close up and clean up a chicken plant in January after cockroaches were found for the fifth time in four months.
- Inspectors were watching the company closely after it was tied to a salmonella outbreak last year that sickened hundreds of people.
Dive Insight:
Foster Farms can't be blamed for wanting to be compensated for losses tied to the four-day closure. But the risks of this lawsuit seem greater than any possible benefit.
If Foster Farms wins, they'll collect a check. But if they lose, it will be clear to consumers that the company had sanitation problems of its own.