Katy woman sues over tainted peanut butter

A Katy woman has filed suit against ConAgra Foods Inc. claiming that she got sick after eating a jar of peanut butter that may have been contaminated with salmonella, making her the first person in Harris County to sue in connection with the nationwide peanut butter scare.The woman in question is Deborah Sanchez, a mother of four who said she became ill after using the potentially tainted Peter Pan creamy peanut butter on her pancakes. "It tasted really good," she told KPRC. But when she landed in the hospital, things weren't so great: "I thought I was going to die," she said. "I wasn't sure."

In the lawsuit, Sanchez claims ConAgra is at fault for her illness because it knew the peanut butter could become tainted with salmonella, yet didn't do anything to keep that from happening. When she contacted ConAgra about her illness — the symptoms included uncontrollable bowel movements and vomiting, "both at the same time," Sanchez said — the company offered her a refund, which she said wasn't enough. Now she's suing for $10,000 to cover her medical bills and $65,000 to cover pain and suffering, an amount that should buy her somewhere north of 37,000 jars of peanut butter.

Sanchez's lawyer, Wesley Todd Ball, said ConAgra is "ripping people off," but thinks it can get away with it. Ball said he has about 10 other clients with similar cases, but didn't indicate whether or when they would sue. As for ConAgra, which issued a recall on the potentially tainted batch of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter Feb. 14, it hasn't seen Sanchez's suit yet. "But we are very concerned that any of our consumers could have been made sick, and that is why we recalled the product as soon as possible," spokeswoman Stephanie Childs said. Meanwhile, the AP is reporting that the number of salmonella cases from tainted peanut butter has risen to 370 nationwide; there have been no deaths, but 60 people have been hospitalized.