“We’ve seen this before with deli meats,” an attorney representing the couple said. “[Listeria] gets in the facility, and if you’re not doing deep cleans often enough, it sticks around. That’s how listeria proliferates.”
A Missouri couple has filed a lawsuit against Boar’s Head, alleging that the company sold contaminated meat involved in a multi-state listeria outbreak.
According to USA Today, the complaint was filed in a St. Louis Circuit Court earlier this week.
The lawsuit alleges that the two plaintiffs, Patrick and Sue Fleming, purchased Boar’s Head liverwurst from a High Ridge-area Schnucker’s store in June. After cooking and consuming the product, Sue developed a “life-threatening Listeria” infection that required intensive medical care and rehabilitation.
Sue, who is 88 years old, said that she experienced a wide range of unpleasant symptoms, which included nausea, diarrhea, cramps, and “intense whole-body aches, shaking, and muscle weakness.” She spent nine days in the hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitation facility, where she spent nearly two weeks.
Attorneys say that Sue still reports “neurological symptoms, fatigue, and overall weakness,” and that the couple is continuing to incur treatment-related costs and other damages.
“Plaintiff Patrick Fleming has lost the love, services, consortium, comfort, instruction, guidance, counsel, and support of his spouse, which he would have received in the usual course of his married life,” the lawsuit alleges.
Ryan Osterhelm, an OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers attorney representing the couple, indicated that the contamination was mostly likely caused by poor food safety practices.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen this before with deli meats,” he said. “[Listeria] gets in the facility, and if you’re not doing deep cleans often enough, it sticks around. That’s how listeria proliferates.”
“From there,” Osterhelm said, “it gets in the food and makes people very sick. Then people get hospitalized, and sometimes—far too often—people die.”
Boar’s Head, note FOX Business, published an initial product recall notice on July 26.
The initial notice only informed consumers of contamination to its liverwurst products, but expanded its scope on July 30 to all products produced at the Boar’s Head facility in Jarratt, Virginia.
“On Monday evening, July 29, 2024, we learned from the U.S.D.A. that our Strassburger Brand Liverwurst has been linked to the national deli meat Listeria monocytogenes outbreak,” Board’s Head said. “Based on this information, we took steps to ensure we are doing everything possible to protect public health.”
But, in spite of its claims to have taken prompt action, other consumers in other states are taking legal action. Attorneys for another woman—Rita Torres of Brooklyn—have filed a tentative class-action lawsuit, which accuses Board’s Head of “false, misleading and deceptive” marketing practices.
Sources
Boar’s Head faces first suit in fatal listeria outbreak after 88-year-old fell ‘deathly ill’
Boar’s Head recall: Woman files class action lawsuit against deli company
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