Sara Lee Pays for Adulterated Meat

July 2, 2001

USDA's Office of Inspector General says that Sara Lee Foods, Inc., of Chicago was sentenced to pay more than $4.4 million on June 22 for selling adulterated meat that appears to have led to a 1998 listeriosis outbreak that resulted in 15 deaths and more than 100 illnesses nationwide. In December 1998, Sara Lee's Bil Mar Plant in Zeeland, MI, recalled 15 million pounds of meat and poultry products at a reported cost of $76 million.

In addition to pleading guilty to a misdemeanor criminal charge in Grand Rapids, MI, Sara Lee agreed to pay a criminal fine of $200,000, $3 million to Michigan State University for food safety research, and a civil settlement of $1.2 million to the U.S. Department of Justice (includes $915,000 reimbursement for products sold to the U.S. Department of Defense and $300,000 reimbursement for investigative costs incurred by USDA and DoD).

Special agents of the USDA OIG assisted by agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and compliance officers of USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service conducted the investigation. In addition, the FSIS instituted administrative measures to protect the public health. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan prosecuted the case.