The Associated Press: Judge recommends $12M settlement on bad peanuts

Judge recommends $12M settlement on bad peanutsBy MICHAEL FELBERBAUM (AP) – 9 hours agoRICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge is recommending approval of a $12 million settlement for those sickened or killed in last year’s salmonella outbreak tied to a Virginia-based peanut processor.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski in Lynchburg issued his recommendation late Wednesday to pay more than 120 personal injury claims related to the outbreak, including the families of nine people who died and 45 children who were sickened. The settlement must now be approved by a bankruptcy judge.

The outbreak began after an open container of peanut butter at a long-term care facility in Minnesota was found to contain a strain of salmonella in January 2009.

The peanut butter was traced to two plants owned by Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America in Blakely, Ga., and Plainview, Texas. The products from the plants were eventually linked to the nine deaths and illnesses of about 700 people.

via The Associated Press: Judge recommends $12M settlement on bad peanuts.