A San Francisco woman is suing Safeway over tainted eggs, according to a class-action suit filed on Wednesday.
Jennifer Rosen, 40, jointly filed a lawsuit against the Pleasanton-based grocery store chain for not doing all it could to tell her about eggs eaten by Rosen, her husband, and their two small children last year that may have had salmonella.
“When I had my husband check the numbers on the carton, I couldn’t believe we had contaminated eggs,” Rosen said in a statement.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges that Safeway failed to provide adequate notice of recalling dangerous food to its Club Card-carrying customers. Customers who sign up for the free cards are asked to provide contact information and are enrolled in a savings program.
Rosen seeks refunds for her family and “similarly situated” customers who have Club Cards, which should have on record who bought recalled products, according to the lawsuit.
“Safeway sends me emails all the time with paperless coupons,” Rosen said. “I can’t believe they wouldn’t text or email me with news of a recall.”
Store chain spokeswoman Teena Massingill said Safeway does its best to let customers know of a recall.
Massingill said the company voluntarily posts recall information on its website, sends out news releases, and used Club Card data to make automated or personal phone calls about recalls.
But using Club Card information is not an industry norm, and Safeway is not required to use contact information in the cards to tell customers about recalls, she said.
“Shoppers are not required to provide contact information to obtain a Safeway Club Card,” she said. “We consider the information that is available to determine how best to provide recall information to customers.”
Dee Hensley-Maclean, a Montana mother who joined Rosen as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, is suing for not being told after buying Nutter Butter sandwich cookies during a 2008 recall of peanut butter.
“If Safeway knows that there is a problem, and they know how to get in touch with me, quite frankly I’m astonished that they wouldn’t try to spare me or my children from a preventable foodborne illness,” Hensley-Maclean, 53, said in a statement.
More information about Safeway’s recalled products can be found here.
Saul Sugarman, Bay City News
Want more news, sent to your inbox every day? Then how about subscribing to our email newsletter? Here’s why we think you should. Come on, give it a try.
