By Jonathan Stempel
June 3 (Reuters) – A Florida mother and her daughter sued Campbell’s after eating SpaghettiOs that they alleged were contaminated by worms or parasites, and therefore unfit to eat.
In a complaint filed on Tuesday, Mary Hubbard said she discovered the alleged contamination around June 6, 2024, after she and her daughter, known as P.L., began eating SpaghettiOs at their home in Okeechobee County.
There “appeared to be worms or parasites actively moving within the food,” and Hubbard shot videos that “clearly depict worm-like organisms moving within the food product,” the complaint said.
Hubbard said she bought the pasta at Walmart, which is also a defendant.
Campbell’s, based in Camden, New Jersey, said on Wednesday the plaintiffs’ claims were “without merit” and that it intended to defend vigorously against them.
Walmart, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said it would respond in court and considered its customers’ health and safety a top priority.
Hubbard and P.L. claimed to suffer parasitic infections from eating their SpaghettiOs, while the mother reported gastrointestinal illness and sepsis and her daughter reported nausea and vomiting.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages of at least $75,000 from Campbell’s and Walmart for alleged negligence and violating a federal food safety law. P.L.’s father is also a plaintiff.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for additional details.
SpaghettiOs were introduced in 1965 and marketed then as “the world’s first spoonable spaghetti.”
It is common for food producers to be sued for alleged contamination, sometimes in response to lab tests, recalls or health alerts.
In April 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for 12 soups, including four with the Campbell’s brand, that it said could be contaminated with wood in a federally regulated ingredient, cilantro.
Tuesday’s lawsuit was filed in the Fort Pierce, Florida, federal court, and assigned to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Jacqueline Wong)
