A Missouri couple has filed a lawsuit after a woman became “deathly ill” with listeria.
OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers filed the complaint on behalf of the plaintiffs in St. Louis Circuit Court naming Boar’s Head Provisions, Co., Inc. and Schnucks Markets, Inc. as defendants.
Boar’s Head is currently under investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) after routine testing found one of its products contained Listeria monocytogenes, a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes fatal illnesses. The products have been linked to a multi-state outbreak of the disease that has hospitalized 33 people.
The woman purchased a liverwurst product made by Boar’s Head from a Schnucks supermarket in June and was hospitalized in early July after becoming “deathly ill,” according to a statement from the couple’s lawyers.
A statement from OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers reads: “Testing confirmed that she was suffering from a life-threatening listeria infection. Thankfully, she survived after a long and harrowing hospitalization, but then endured a lengthy stay at a rehabilitation facility to continue her recovery.”
Boar’s Head has confirmed nine products are subject to the recall, including one liverwurst product, which was found to contain the bacterium, and eight other deli meat items that were produced on the same line and on the same day.
Newsweek contacted the company for comment outside of normal working hours, and OFT via email for a copy of the full complaint.
According to the most recent update from the CDC, there have been 35 illnesses reported in relation to the outbreak across 13 states: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
In total, about 207,528 pounds of meat is being recalled. The recall has been given a Class I risk classification and the products have been branded “unfit for human consumption.”
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen this before with deli meats,” said Ryan Osterholm, an attorney for the couple. “It gets in the facility, and if you’re not doing deep cleans often enough, it sticks around. That’s how listeria proliferates. From there, it gets in the food and it makes people very sick. Then people get hospitalized, and sometimes—far too often—people die.”
The FSIS has urged anyone who may have purchased the products to throw them away or return them to the place of purchase.
“Consumers who have purchased these products are also urged to clean refrigerators thoroughly to prevent the risk of cross-contamination,” it said in a statement on July 26.
Consumers with questions relating to the recall can contact Boar’s Head Provisions Co. at 1-800-352-6277.
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