SUPERVALU SETTLES E. COLI SUIT

DAVID GHITELMAN

MINNEAPOLIS -- Supervalu here and American Foods Group, a Green Bay, Wis.-based meat company, have settled with the parents of Sonja Pearson, a young girl who became seriously ill after eating E. coli-contaminated ground beef that was supplied by AFG to Supervalu's Cub Foods subsidiary, according to the lawyer for the girl's parents.

A Supervalu spokeswoman told SN, "We believe the settlement is mutually agreeable and beneficial. We are pleased with the resolution of this matter."

The terms of the settlement, which was reached late last month, were not made public at the request of the parents, William Marler, the plaintiffs' Seattle-based attorney, told SN.

More than 40 people in the Upper Midwest became ill during the E. coli outbreak in December 2000, including Pearson, who was then 2 years old and incurred medical bills for $220,000 during a monthlong hospital stay for kidney failure caused by the contaminated meat.