HOLLIDAYSBURG, PA. -- Sheetz Inc. cannot have Pennsylvania Health Department documents relating to salmonella-tainted tomatoes sold at its convenience stores two years ago, a judge ruled, said the Associated Press.
While many cases have been settled, some lawsuits against Sheetz, Altoona, Pa.,and Coronet Foods, Wheeling, W.Va., which supplied the tainted tomatoes, remain.
Sheetz wanted documents detailing the state investigation into the source of the outbreak, claiming they were important to Sheetz and other defendants.
But according to the Associated Press, the health department said the records are not public under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know law and the information is confidential. Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva agreed, ruling that even if the records were public, confidential health records cannot be released.
Government investigators said at least 400 people got sick in early July 2004 from salmonella-tainted tomatoes in sandwiches purchased at Sheetz stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and six other states. Federal investigators traced the tomatoes to a Florida packing house, but said nothing was done wrong there to taint them. The government also absolved Sheetz and Coronet. But under Pennsylvania's strict liability laws, both could still be sued because they sold the tomatoes, as can the companies and farms in Coronet's supply chain.
Coronet folded in October 2004 and filed for bankruptcy.
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