Court dismisses poultry firms from arsenic lawsuit

A US circuit judge has dismissed six poultry companies from a lawsuit claiming that arsenic used as a feed additive resulted in cancer among individuals in Prairie Grove, Ark.

Judge Kim Smith ruled that the plaintiffs Michael "Blu" Green, who suffered leukaemia as a child, and his parents could not show a relationship between illnesses and individual companies.

Therefore, Tyson Foods Inc., Simmons Foods, Simmons Poultry Farms, George's Farms, George's Processing and Peterson Farms were dismissed from the case.

The producer and distributor of the feed additive, Alpharma and Alpharma Animal Health, will go to trial on September 5 as the remaining defendants.

Editor WorldPoultry