CAMDEN COUNTY, N.J. – Guida Dairy, a Connecticut-based company, is at the center of a class action lawsuit after an incident in New Jersey where young children were accidentally served milk contaminated with sanitizer. The legal action follows an event where students at a Camden County school consumed milk from Guida Dairy that had been tainted with a cleaning solution.
Families of the affected children have initiated the lawsuit, citing significant emotional and physical distress experienced by their children in the aftermath. Parents express that their children are still in recovery, grappling with the trauma of the incident. “Days later we were still experiencing these issues, she is traumatic, she is saying no I don’t want to drink anything, I don’t want to eat anything,” recounted Tiffanee Gould, a concerned parent from Camden County.
Samuel D. Jackson from the Lento Law Group, representing the families, emphasized the gravity of the situation: “No parent should ever have to doubt whether the food their young children are served at school is safe. The alleged wrongdoing by Guida-Seibert Dairy Company described in this complaint should be a wake-up call for all milk processors and food service companies serving schools that their negligence could injure young children and cause long-term negative health issues.”
For the families within the Camden County New Jersey School District, the ordeal has been more than a minor mishap. They report ongoing recovery for their children who ingested milk contaminated with sanitizer almost a week prior to filing the suit. The contamination impacted numerous students at an early childhood development center, causing immediate chaos and concern. Gould described the frantic moments after the incident, “It was just complete chaos and like Dominique said my son had this big black C on his hand and I’m like what does this mean.” The “C” signified Cooper Medical Center, where children like Tiffanee and Domonique’s four and five-year-olds were taken for medical evaluation. The lawsuit alleges that Guida Seibert Dairy Company failed in their duty to prevent foreign substances from contaminating their milk products. It is believed that diluted sanitizer was inadvertently run through vendor machines before the milk was processed.
The class action lawsuit was officially announced on Thursday by the parents and their legal representatives, targeting Guida Dairy, based in New Britain, Connecticut. The legal action represents multiple families, with the suit detailing the distress endured by both the children and their guardians. One parent reportedly lost her job due to the necessity of caring for her child who was kept home from school following the incident.
In response to the situation, Guida Dairy issued a statement confirming the disposal of half-pint sized 1% low-fat milk cartons with a sell-by date of April 11. “Once we were made aware of this issue, we took immediate action and tested impacted product to verify there is no food safety risk associated with this product… this should’ve been monitored better and it wasn’t,” the statement acknowledged.
The families involved in the class action are seeking financial compensation and a formal apology from Guida Dairy for the negligence that led to this distressing event. It has been confirmed that the contaminated milk was not distributed or sold in Connecticut.
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