|
|
Article: Chi-Chi's seeks suppliers' help with outbreak costs: produce wholesalers sued over tainted green onions.(Food Safety)
- Article from:
- Restaurants & Institutions
- Article date:
- September 15, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The business costs of a single food-borne-illness incident came more sharply into focus as the aftershocks of last year's hepatitis A outbreak at Chi-Chi's moved to the courts.
Chi-Chi's Inc. last month filed suits against three wholesalers it claims were the sources of green onions found to be tainted with hepatitis A. More than 600 customers who dined at its restaurant in Monaca, Pa., in November 2003 were made ill and four died. The Louisville, Ky.-based chain wants suppliers to help defray the costs associated with more than 300 lawsuits filed against it.
Cash-flow problems led Chi-Chi's to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a month before the outbreak. ...