Parmalat products are found on most Italian breakfast tables

A lawsuit filed in a US court on Tuesday lists defendants including Bank of America, Citigroup, and audit firms Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton.

Lawyers for the investors said they would be seeking damages of more than $8bn (�4.5bn; 6.4bn euros).

The figure is based on the value of the firm's outstanding bonds and shares at the time of its collapse last year.

Legal battle

Parmalat, one of Italy's best-known multinationals, was declared insolvent in December after it emerged that 4bn euros it supposedly held in an offshore account did not in fact exist.

Its demise inflicted heavy losses on shareholders, and sent shock waves through Italy's financial markets.

Parmalat's former managers, banks and auditors are already facing a claim for damages from the firm's government-appointed administrators.

Any damages awarded would help fund a restructuring exercise aimed at putting Parmalat back on a secure financial footing.

A court in Milan is separately currently considering whether a total of 29 former employees of Parmalat, its banks and auditors should be prosecuted over their alleged role in the affair.