A California resident has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Chobani accusing it of negligence and breaching the implied warranty of merchantability for its yogurts following the recent mold outbreak. Chobani, which declined to comment on the legal action, first started fielding complaints about bloated and fizzy yogurt cups in late August, and issued a formal recall on selected products on September 5th after confirming they had been affected by a "common mold".
It’s not clear how many people ate the affected products, but the FDA told reporters on Monday it had received more than 220 reports from people complaining of cramps, nausea, headache and diarrhea after eating Chobani products - although it stressed this did not prove that the yogurts made them sick.
Although Chobani provided an update on its website on September 6 revealing that after “extensive testing and expert consultation, we now know that the mold … is a species called Mucor circinelloides”, the lawsuit (filed on September 9 by plaintiff Harold Green in California), notes that Chobani did not initially identify the mold strain. This left “potentially hundreds, or even thousands, of Chobani consumers … in the dark”, said Green.
Chobani made people sick through its negligence, alleges California plaintiff by Elaine Watson, Food Navigator.
