Carrot producer linked to nationwide E. coli outbreak owned by Indiana private equity firm
Grimmway Farms, owned by Teays River Investments, has paid fines for multiple OSHA violations, including at least three involving worker deaths
November 26, 2024
As a pre-Thanksgiving outbreak of E. coli linked to carrots has left one person dead and dozens more sickened, private equity-owned Grimmway Farms has come under scrutiny. Owned by Zionsville, Indiana-based private equity firm Teays River Investments, Grimmway Farms is one of the world’s largest carrot producers. In the wake of the E. coli outbreak, Grimmway is now facing a lawsuit from a Georgia womanwho alleges she was hospitalized after eating carrots from one of the company’s brands.
In addition to the current E. coli outbreak, Grimmway Farms has had a spotty record of workplace safety since its acquisition by Teays River Investments. Since 2021, the company has been given over $59,000 in federal OSHA fines over seven violations, including at least three involving a worker death. Two of those seven violations have been contested and the cases remain open.
In at least one of those cases, Grimmway contractors were also fined. In 2023, farm laborer Rosa Sanchez died on the job after “[e]mployees were permitted to perform work functions, such as harvesting operations in close proximity to a Commercial Truck being driven in an unsafe manner…Witnesses said they became further incensed when they were told to get back to work while Sanchez’s body lay in the field under a yellow covering while awaiting an ambulance.”
“Teays River Investments’ carrot debacle is just the latest example of problems at private equity-owned companies,” said Justin Flores, Director of Labor and Jobs at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “As private equity executives cheer impending deregulation under the second Trump administration, workers and consumers are going to pay the price.”
“In his first administration, President Trump rolled back protections that would have helped prevent some E. coli outbreaks from ever happening, as well as OSHA inspections that can save workers’ lives. We should expect even more rotten carrots under the second Trump administration.”
