SAN FRANCISCO, May 31, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following statement is being issued by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP:
To: All persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of Inventure Foods, Inc. (“Inventure” or the “Company") (NASDAQ:SNAK) pursuant to or traceable to Inventure’s September 17, 2014 stock offering.
If you suffered significant losses in SNAK, contact Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP partner Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm’s investigation by calling 510-725-3000, emailing SNAK@hbsslaw.com or visiting https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/SNAK. In addition to claims alleged in the pending litigation, Hagens Berman is investigating whether there are other violations of the Federal securities laws prior to April 24, 2015.
The current litigation concerns misrepresentations about Inventure’s Jefferson, Georgia food packaging facility, its need for capital improvements, and its need for corrective actions necessary to guard against unsanitary conditions and comply with Federal law.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture Food Safety Division inspected the Jefferson facility on October 22, 2014, identifying unsafe and unsanitary conditions that “may cause contamination of food being processed[.]”
Inventure provided a plan to the agency on November 17, 2014 promising to ensure the bag storage room was thoroughly clean and eliminate standing water. But, in a complaint submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 2, 2015, the complainant reported concerns that vegetables went through mold contaminated machinery and bacterial growth resulted from standing water.
On April 23, 2015, Inventure announced a recall of certain food products because its Jefferson facility tested positive for Listeria. On this news the price of Inventure’s stock fell nearly 19% to close at $9.40 per share that day.
“Inventure knew no later than October 2014 that its Jefferson facility had huge problems,” said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein. “Its April 2015 disclosures demonstrate it did not remediate them, and as a result Inventure investors suffered enormous losses.”
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Inventure should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or email SNAK@hbsslaw.com.
About Hagens Berman
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