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HOLLIDAYSBURG — A key lawsuit filed against Sheetz convenience stores over salmonella-tainted tomatoes was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
The suit was brought by Altoona resident Max Christian Anslinger, one of more than 400 people sickened by tomatoes sold on sandwiches and other foods at Sheetz stores in Pennsylvania and eight other states in 2004.
Anslinger’s case was notable because it was the vehicle for the complicated discovery process — the pretrial exchange of evidence — used to determine where the tomatoes originated.
The settlement is confidential, according to Sheetz attorney Gary Zimmerman and Anslinger’s attorney, William Marler, who represented more than 130 of the sickened customers.
In August, Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva concluded that Altoona-based Sheetz and its vegetable wholesaler, Coronet Foods, could not pinpoint where the tainted tomatoes originated. So, Kopriva dismissed claims brought by Anslinger and other customers against two tomato suppliers and six farms or other businesses that may have grown the tomatoes.