031238 Minnesota Sues Farmers Pride

Anoka, MN - The attorney general's office filed a civil lawsuit against door-to-door meat company Farmers Pride Inc. on claims of consumer fraud, false advertising and deceptive sales practices.

The Blaine company, which was linked to an E. coli infection outbreak last June, is accused of telling its sellers to mislead consumers about the quality of meat and the reasons that it was peddled on doorsteps at a purported "discount," the complaint alleges.

A common claim was to tell customers that meat was left over from a scheduled delivery to a nearby business and that the seller's boss wanted it sold at a bargain price, according to the lawsuit.

Farmers Pride also is accused of using meaningless claims such as "triple-trimmed" frozen steaks that consumers were falsely led to believe was of the same cuts and quality sold to large restaurant chains. Actually, the steaks were of low quality and overpriced, the complaint says.

More than 100 complaints have been filed against the company, owned by Benjamin Coe Chouinard, with the attorney general, the Minnesota Agriculture Department and the Better Business Bureau.

"This is one of the most blatant cases I've seen," said Kevin Elfering, head of dairy, meat and food inspection for the state Department of Agriculture. Salesmen for the company had come to his door, which helped kick off the latest probe into Farmers Pride.

The Agriculture Department recently revoked the food handler's license held by Farmers Pride while state attorneys prepared the lawsuit brought by the attorney general's office on Friday.

Chouinard, of Isanti, did not immediately respond to the lawsuit. He has said that his wife assumed ownership of the company after he reached a 1999 settlement with the attorney general's office in which he agreed to stop selling meat door-to-door or having employees peddle for him.

The five-count complaint, which calls Chouinard the company owner, was filed Friday in Anoka County District Court. Each offense carries a penalty of up to $25,000.

The complaint alleges that Farmers Pride engaged in a raft of illegal practices, among them: intentionally deceiving customers about the quality, quantity and price of the meat being offered, failing to provide customers with information about refund policies, and failing to inform customers about a recall related to frozen steaks tainted with E. coli 0157:H7, which can cause a severe intestinal infection.

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