An attorney is claiming state officials told Brunton Dairy a positive test result for bacteria in the Beaver County company's milk probably was caused by lab contamination, according to court documents filed last week.
In a Dec. 28 response to a lawsuit filed against the Independence Township family-run business, Brunton Dairy attorney Jeffrey D. Truitt said the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture told dairy officials there was a "lab error" during the testing of samples collected before the second halt in milk production in October.
On July 29, the nearly 180-year-old dairy voluntarily stopped processing milk using its on-site pasteurization facility after 16 people who consumed its milk were sickened by Yersinia enterocolitica bacteria.
In the lawsuit filed Dec. 7 in Allegheny County Court, Joseph A. Wakeling Jr., no age given, of Moon Township, claimed he drank the dairy's milk in June and July and suffered severe abdominal pain and diarrhea, septic shock and kidney failure, requiring dialysis three times a week.
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