Marin among 10 counties to settle in food storage lawsuit

Ten California counties, including eight in the San Francisco Bay Area, have settled a civil lawsuit filed against the Sysco Corporation regarding storing perishable foods in unrefrigerated and unregistered storage sheds.

Sysco Corporation will pay $19 million in restitution, costs and civil penalties for allowing seven operating companies to store the food in at least 22 unregistered storage sheds, according to the Marin County District Attorneys Office.

The other Bay Area plaintiffs are Alameda, Monterey, Napa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma countries. The judgment against Sysco was entered July 17 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

The complaint alleged that between 2009 and 2013, Sysco used refrigerated food trucks to transport products for some customer orders in the food industry to the sheds that were not registered with the California Department of Public Health.

The perishable food products were picked up throughout the day by Sysco marketing associates in unregistered personal vehicles for delivery to Sysco customers, the DAs office said.

The complaint also alleged Sysco engaged in misleading advertising regarding food safety standards.

The CDPH investigated the practice after a NBC Bay Area undercover investigation. The department found some of the 22 storage sheds also were unsanitary, according to the DAs office.

Sysco voluntarily ceased the alleged practices when the civil action was taken by the district attorneys offices.

One of the sheds was in the Greenbrae area of Marin County.

The results of this consumer protection enforcement action are a great accomplishment in enhancing food safety for not only Marin County residents, but for consumers statewide who could potentially be affected by unsafe food handling practices, Marin County District Attorney Ed Berberian said.

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Marin among 10 counties to settle in food storage lawsuit