Santa Clara DA Defeats KFC

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is on a roll this week, having played a part in the settlement of two cases against corporate giants.

Earlier this week, a suit filed against diet company Sensa by Rosen, along with a group of other California DAs, was settled for over $900,000 after it was shown that the company falsely advertised its Sprinkle Diet product.

On Tuesday, the DAs office another victory, this one against Kentucky Fried Chicken for "a variety of health and safety violations, including improperly installing ovens which billowed smoke inside kitchens while cooking chicken."

Rosen filed suit against KFC along with DAs from Los Angeles, Napa and San Mateo counties.

According to the DA's office, to settle the suit, KFC and Harman Management Corporation "agreed to pay $200,000 in civil penalties and $94,000 in [other] costs. ... The companies have also agreed to an injunction that prohibits them from violating California Health & Safety Code sections in the future, and will provide specific notice to their franchisees of California’s environmental health requirements."

The civil penalties will go toward consumer protection actions. But this case protects KFC workers as well.

"The Retail Food Code is in place to protect not only the health and safety of consumers, but also of the employees of food facilities. KFC workers deserve to work in a healthy environment,” Rosen said.

There is one KFC in Milpitas, located at 73 South Main St.