Food formula: botulism-infected people demand millions of dollars in compensation

Three civil lawsuits have been filed in Russian courts against the services "Kitchen on the Neighborhood" and "Samokat" by people who suffered botulism in the summer of 2024, Izvestia has learned. They demand compensation for damages from 300 thousand to several million rubles, said in the legal service Destra Legal. At the same time, the claims of seven people for a total amount of about 4 million rubles have been settled in a pre-trial order. More than 10 more pre-trial claims are under negotiation. What are the chances of satisfying the claims and why the victims did not file collective complaints - in the material of "Izvestia".

Disputes and compensation

More than 20 people who were infected with botulism, addressed with pre-trial claims to the services "Samokat" and "Kitchen on the district", told "Izvestia" legal director of the legal service Destra Legal Boris Feldman. They demanded compensation for moral damage in the amount from 100 thousand to 2 million rubles - depending on the severity of botulism and related consequences, lost income during treatment and the cost of medication.

The first cases of botulism infection were detected in Moscow in mid-June 2024. Then similar poisonings with cooked food became known in the Moscow region, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, as well as in the Yaroslavl, Tambov and Kostroma regions. In total, botulism was registered in 417 people in 11 regions in the summer, two people died - in Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Provision of services that do not meet the safety requirements of life and health of consumers"). Rospotrebnadzor found that the cause of the mass botulism infection was beans produced by Savon-K LLC. It was used in its dishes, in particular, by the ready-to-eat food delivery service "Kitchen on the Neighborhood".

- In August, Destra Legal lawyers sent pre-trial claims to Samokat and Kitchen on the Neighborhood. Negotiations and court work are still underway to obtain funds from the guilty party," said Boris Feldman. - To date, as a result of negotiations, seven people have concluded pre-trial dispute settlement agreements totaling more than Br4 million with the companies and refused from further claims against the manufacturer of salad.

According to him, three lawsuits with claims ranging from Br300 thousand to several million have been sent to court. The maximum amount of damage is not disclosed yet.

- On these episodes during the negotiations with "Samokat" and "Kitchen on the district" the lawyers failed to achieve the fulfillment of the victims' demands by the companies, - said the representative of the law firm.

According to Destra Legal, there are no collective lawsuits yet. They noted that "it is more effective when one or two come in at a time."

"Izvestia" sent requests to "Samokat" and "Kitchen on the district" with a request to sound the number of lawsuits filed against them with claims for compensation, how many of them have already been satisfied and in what amount.

Consideration of the first claim has been postponed

On December 2 Dorogomilovsky court was to consider the first of these lawsuits - against "Samokat" (Smart Retail LLC) from a botulism victim. The victim, who appealed to the court, was not satisfied with the amount of compensation offered by the service, said Boris Feldman. But the hearing was postponed to December 18, as the case involved a third party - LLC "Lokalkitchen" (brand "Kitchen on the district"), "Izvestia" found out.

If substandard products were supplied and the product manufacturing service could establish this, then together with him should involve the product supplier as a second defendant, Oleg Pantyushov, a lawyer from the Moscow Bar Association, told Izvestia.

The woman who sent the lawsuit to the court told Izvestia that she had previously suffered from cancer and was now in remission. She expressed fear that botulism could affect her condition.

- In addition, botulism has affected my memory, I began to forget many things after a short period of time," said the victim.

Her lawyer Narek Markaryan refused to disclose the amount of the requested compensation. Lawyer Oleg Pantyushov reminded that the amount of compensation depends on the severity of the consequences and noted that the victims can demand from the companies not only compensation for moral damage, but also compensation for medical expenses and lost earnings.

Consequences of botulism outbreak

After the emergency with mass infection with botulism, Rospotrebnadzor came up with a proposal to increase fines for failure to notify about the start of entrepreneurial activity. The Ministry of Finance has prepared amendments on the initiative of the supervisory body. According to them, from March 1, 2025, the supervisory authority will promptly receive from the Federal Tax Service information about new players - in particular, at what address the organization or individual entrepreneurs registered a cash register and punched the first check.

The Ministry of Economic Development has drafted amendments under which Rospotrebnadzor will be able to come to inspect those enterprises which have not notified the start of their activities. Now it is obliged to do this in catering establishments, food production enterprises, retail chains and so on.

Against the background of the botulism outbreak and reports of mass poisonings with ready-to-eat food in the regions, Izvestia conducted its own research - checked the dishes of the largest players in the ready-to-eat food market. The editorial board sent 16 dishes from Samokat, Yandex Lavka, Perekrestok, VkusVilla, TanukiFamily, Shokoladnitsa, Grow Food and Level Kitchen to the laboratory of the National Center for the Safety of Aquatic and Aquaculture Products for examination.

In 62.5% of the dishes purchased by Izvestia, the laboratory found an excess of E. coli content, as well as the amount of microorganisms that may include pathogenic ones. No violations were found only in samples from Samokat and Perekrestok.