2008 Canadian Listeriosis Outbreak Litigation Lawsuit

2008 Canadian Listeriosis Outbreak Litigation

The product and the outbreak

In 2008, a widespread outbreak of listeriosis was detected in Canada. Listeriosis is an infection due to the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which has a lengthy incubation period, so the number of reported cases continued to rise over time after the outbreak was first noticed in July 2008. Routine surveillance picked up the increase in cases, and investigation traced the source to the Maple Leaf Foods facility on Bartor Road in North York, Toronto, establishment number 97B.

Maple Leaf Foods is a large Canadian meat processor. The contamination was linked to lines 8 and 9 of the plant, which produced deli meats — cold cuts. Because these products are cooked, a process that normally destroys pathogens, investigators concluded the contamination most likely occurred during packaging. About 220 possibly contaminated products, each stamped with the code "97B" near the best-before date, were identified. Maple Leaf Foods had begun a voluntary recall before the link to its plant was confirmed, and it expanded the recall to all products from the Bartor Road facility once the connection was established. The plant was then closed for an intensive sanitation operation.

Who was harmed

The outbreak produced 57 confirmed cases of listeriosis and resulted in 23 deaths. Because the bacterium's incubation period is long, officials expected the case count to keep rising as the full impact of the contaminated products became clear.

Litigation

Four separate class-action lawsuits were filed against Maple Leaf Foods in the Canadian provincial courts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, on behalf of people who fell ill or lost family members after consuming the contaminated deli meats. The suits were filed by the law firm Merchant Law Group.

The lawsuits were settled in December 2008. The settlement amount was not disclosed in this record. As part of the resolution, a court ordered a pro-rata reduction to all entitlements, so claims were paid at roughly 93 percent of the original agreement, and claimants were given a deadline to cash their cheques.

Political and regulatory backdrop

The outbreak also triggered a national debate over the privatization of food inspection in Canada. A leaked cabinet document had outlined plans to shift federal meat inspectors into an oversight role, and opposition politicians drew comparisons to earlier Canadian food and water safety tragedies. Government comments made during the crisis, including remarks by the agriculture minister, drew public criticism.

Outcome

The litigation closed with a settlement in December 2008, and the episode is recorded in this entry as a settlement resolved in 2008.