Missouri v. Morningland of the Ozarks, LLC, 384 S.W.3d 346 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012)

(state ordered seizure and destruction of all cheese produced by defendant after samples tested positive for listeria and staph; after further tests revealed food borne bacteria, milk board ordered destruction of condemned cheese; defendant appealed; defendant’s first objection was the state’s failure to provide a more definitive statement to its petition which the court overruled but provided no rationale for decision; appellate court held defendant filed responsive pleadings which demonstrated understanding of petition negating need for more detail; appellate court also held that correct burden at trial was used establishing that defendant’s cheese violated the statute due to presence of pathogens making cheese an unlawful product; state had authority under police power to prevent sale of contaminated cheese through embargo before full determination of sale of unlawful product requiring condemnation; court also held testing of entire condemned inventory is not necessary to uphold condemnation as valid and minimum sample is acceptable; judgment affirmed.)