PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Wednesday, December 31, 1997

Two food companies sue San Angelo meat packing plant

SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - Claiming a San Angelo meatpacker sold them spoiled beef that reeked when it was cooked, two food companies have filed suit alleging breach of contract.

Lone Star Beef has been sued by Jason Foods Inc. of Illinois and Triple B Foods Inc. of Dallas for at least $10,000 in damages and at least another $5,000 in attorney's fees and court costs.

Plaintiffs allege Lone Star breached its contract to sell good products.

Lone Star president John Cross said Monday that the lawsuit is a problem for former plant owner Mike Evans, who sold the company earlier this year before beginning a 30-month federal prison sentence.

"We're not involved in the suit, period," Cross said. "It's a meat claim from back in July. We didn't buy the company until Sept. 1."

Plaintiffs attorney John Sims, of Lubbock, countered that the suit has nothing to do with Evans.

The packing plant, once known as Evans Meat Co., is now owned by Cross and vice president Burley Smith and has changed its name to Lone Star Beef LLC.

Cross said he was unfamiliar with the allegations and referred questions to Jim Carter, one of Evans' attorneys. Carter told The Associated Press Tuesday he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment.

The suit is based on a July 30 transaction in which Jason Foods bought 42,000 pounds of beef "cheek meat" worth more than $33,000. Sims said the load had been pre-sold to Triple B Foods, which in turn pre-sold it to Garcia Foods of San Antonio to be turned into "barbacoa," or barbecue.

"What happened was, some of it they cooked had a bad, bad odor to it, and so (Garcia Foods) had to actually condemn some of the food that they'd already prepared and what it was mixed with," Sims said.

The lawsuit alleges that Garcia complained to the plaintiffs on Aug. 21 about the meat quality. He said the food companies "immediately asked for an inspection," but Lone Star allegedly refused to examine its products.

"Obviously, my people felt obligated, and they sent a professional lab out there," Sims told the San Angelo Standard-Times.

On Aug. 29, inspectors from a Selma lab found about 127 boxes of rancid meat and ordered them to be destroyed, the lawsuit says.

The meat was never sold to the public, but his clients reimbursed Garcia Foods for the products it destroyed, Sims said.

An August 1996 raid eventually led to the conviction and imprisonment of Evans, a millionaire meatpacker. He admitted selling over-watered beef at inflated prices to fast-food chains.Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: