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# Worm-ridden walnut buy neither smart nor final
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/worm-ridden-walnut-buy-neither-smart-nor-final/
- Published: 2002-07-19T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:33:02.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: local, Pico, #archive-import

Live worms and larvae are to blame for a Santa Monica man’s two-day bout with food poisoning, he told a judge Thursday.

Shepherd, a 61-year-old Santa Monica real estate consultant, purchased a bag of walnuts produced by Mixed Nuts Inc. in February from Smart & Final on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles.

That evening, Shepherd said he poured some of the nuts into a salad, ate his dinner and went to bed. At 1 a.m., he was awakened by a violent case of diarrhea that had him vomiting and sitting on the toilet for the next two days.

During a short reprieve, Shepherd went searching for the culprit.

The salad was fine, so were the tomatoes. But the walnuts, which were stored in a self-sealing plastic bag overnight, were accompanied by tiny live worms and covered with walnut-colored larvae webbing, Shepherd said.

Shepherd demanded answers. But he got the run-around — from store managers, corporate personnel, walnut people.

Weeks later, in an attempt to resolve the dispute, Mixed Nut Inc. made him an offer. But Shepherd said it was unacceptable.

“They offered me some nuts,” he said. “And I replied, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

Shepherd sued Smart & Final in Santa Monica Small Claims Court, seeking $1,500 for time missed from work and the discomfort he endured.

Susan Wong, a claims coordinator for Smart & Final, said Shepherd was the only customer who complained about the walnuts. She added that Smart & Final immediately pulled their walnut stock and disposed of them.

Wong showed Judge Pro Tem Herbert Rubinstein a report detailing a laboratory investigation done on a different bag of walnuts which indicated no worms or larvae were found. Wong admitted that the company did not accept Shepherd’s offer to test his walnuts.

Judge Rubinstein, after inspecting what remained of Shepherd’s walnuts, said the retailer hadn’t done enough.

“It’s an issue that nobody tested his nuts,” the judge said. “Smart & Final put the walnuts in the stream of commerce. Food has to be wholesome. And if it’s not, there are liabilities.”

Judge Rubinstein awarded Shepherd $750.

“That’s what I thought it was worth,” he said.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 19, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071902.pdf?ref=smdp.com)