Florida mother sues Walmart over moving parasites in SpaghettiOs

A Florida mother’s lawsuit against Walmart and Campbell Soup Company puts a routine shelf-stable grocery item at the center of a store-level food-safety dispute. Mary Hubbard says she bought a can of SpaghettiOs at a Walmart Supercenter in Okeechobee, Florida, then later saw what she described as worms or parasites actively moving in the food she shared with her daughter.

Hubbard and Gregory Lovell filed the case on June 2, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Pierce. The complaint says Hubbard recorded videos of the alleged contamination and preserved physical evidence, steps that now sit at the heart of how retailers handle a customer claim that a packaged item on the shelf may be unsafe.

The lawsuit says Hubbard suffered a parasitic infection, gastroenteritis, sepsis and other serious and permanent injuries. The child, identified in the complaint as P.L., allegedly experienced abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and a parasitic infection that required prescription medication. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $75,000 in damages and accuse Walmart and Campbell of negligence, breach of warranty, strict liability and violating a federal food safety law.

For Walmart store leaders, a claim like this raises the same immediate operational questions that come with any suspected contamination complaint: whether the product was from a single can or a broader lot, whether similar inventory remains on the shelf, and what documentation is created as the complaint moves up the chain. Walmart said it was reviewing the filing and would respond appropriately. Campbell said the allegations lacked merit and declined to comment further on pending litigation.

The case also lands against a broader backdrop of scrutiny around canned soups and bowl products. On April 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert for various soup and bowl products, including Campbell-branded items, over possible wood contamination in cilantro. That alert did not involve SpaghettiOs, but it reinforced how quickly packaged meal products can draw regulatory attention when foreign material is alleged.

SpaghettiOs have been on shelves since 1965, and Campbell says the brand sits within more than 150 years of company history. In this case, the focus is much narrower: one can, one Walmart store in Okeechobee, and a complaint now testing how seriously food-safety claims are handled once they reach the checkout lane and the back room.