Boar’s Head Recall Lawsuits Filed As Listeriosis Infections Caused By Tainted Deli Meats Grow

As the CDC continues to report new injuries and deaths linked to a Boar’s Head recall announced late last month,  a growing number of lawsuits are being filed over the widespread distribution of deli meats contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, which pose serious health risks for consumers.

Listeria food poisoning can cause symptoms like high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.  While it generally does not pose long-term risks for healthy individuals, it can cause potentially life-threatening infections in young children, the elderly or individuals with weakened immune systems.

Among pregnant women, listeria monocytogenes poisoning can cause miscarriages, stillbirths and other complications that may impact the long-term health of the unborn child or mother.

On August 28, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a new update on the Boar’s Head listeria outbreak, which indicates that it is now aware of at least 57 hospitalizations due to listeriosis infections across 18 states, including at least nine deaths.

This makes the current outbreak the largest since 2011, when 11 deaths were linked to tainted cantaloupe.

CDC Recommends All Americans Check for Tainted Boar’s Head Meats

The CDC recommends that every U.S. consumer check their shelves for any of the remaining Boar’s Head meats, as these products have extremely long shelf lives. The listeria germ can remain on surfaces and foods even at refrigerated temperatures, and symptoms can take up to 10 weeks to appear in an infected person.

So far, the recall has covered 71 different products produced between May 10, 2024, and July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names. These items include meat intended for slicing at retail delis, as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations.

Affected products have “sell by” dates ranging from July 29, 2024 through October 17, 2024, which means that some consumers may still have the tainted deli meats stored in their refrigerators, presenting an ongoing risk to pregnant women, children and elderly individuals.

The CDC is telling people not to eat any of the recalled deli meats, and if the products are still in a customer’s refrigerator, it is recommended to either discard the product immediately or contact the seller about returns.

If a business believes they have received any of the infected meats, they should follow USDA-FSIS best practices, which include spraying surfaces with antimicrobial agents to prevent cross-contamination, storing ready to eat products in a different location from raw products and having employees wear gloves when handling meats.

Listeria Can Cause Miscarriages in Pregnant Women

Since the initial recall, there have been a number of Boar’s Head lawsuits, involving individuals who experienced listeriosis infections, as well as class action claims seeking damages for all consumers. Some of the most serious allegations highlight the impact the bacteria can have on pregnant women.

In a Boar’s Head lawsuit (PDF) filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on August 7, Ashley Solberg points out that her unborn child could have died as the result of her eating listeria-tainted deli meats, which caused her to be hospitalized for at least six days late in her pregnancy.

Solberg was 35 weeks pregnant with her second child when she unknowingly purchased and consumed the recalled Boar’s Head deli meat. She became severely ill from a listeriosis infection, which caused her to experience diarrhea, fever, chills and headaches.

Due to concerns about the impact on her unborn child, Solberg sought medical attention. Doctors ordered blood cultures, which confirmed her diagnosis. Recognizing the risks of miscarriage listeria infections pose for pregnant mothers, Solberg was admitted to the hospital, where she began an intensive antibiotic treatment. After remaining in the hospital for six days, she was eventually discharged, but indicates that she required continued IV antibiotics for an additional eight days.

“Even today, Plaintiff is concerned about the lasting impact of the infection just before her labor and delivery,” Solberg said. “Boar’s Head owed a duty of care to Plaintiff to design, process, manufacture, distribute, and/or sell food that was not adulterated, that was fit for human consumption, that was reasonably safe, and that was free of pathogenic bacteria or other substances injurious to human health.”

Boar’s Head Class Action Lawsuits Focus on False Marketing

Other lawsuits over the Boar’s Head recall seek class action status, to pursue damages on behalf of wider groups of individuals impacted by the contaminated deli meats, raising allegations that the manufacturer failed to adequately disclose on the packaging that Boar’s Head meat may be tainted with listeria.

On August 16, a Boar’s Head class action lawsuit (PDF) was filed by Samantha Chuskas in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on behalf of herself and other similarly situated consumers, alleging that Boar’s Head represented through its marketing and advertising that the recalled products were safe to eat, which they were not.

Rita Torres filed a similar class action lawsuit (PDF) over the Boar’s Head recall on August 1 in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, also arguing that the company engaged in deceptive and misleading marketing practices by failing to disclose the potential risk of listeria food poisoning that may be caused by its products.

It is not that Boar’s Head needs to state their products necessarily contain listeria, but the potential for bacteria infection should at least be listed as a possible warning on the products’ packaging, the lawsuits claim.

“Defendant’s advertising and marketing campaign is false, deceptive, and misleading because the Products do contain, or risk containing, Listeria monocytogenes, which is dangerous to one’s health and well-being. Nevertheless, Defendant does not list or mention Listeria monocytogenes anywhere on the Products’ packaging or labeling,” Torres said.

Multiple Boar’s Head Deli Meat Recalls Issued

The first CDC recall linked to the Boar’s Head deli meat listeria outbreak was issued on July 26, following the Maryland Department of Health’s discovery of Listeria monocytogenes in an unopened sample of liverwurst. However, it was unknown at the time whether the Maryland sample was related to a wider outbreak of listeria.

On the same day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced another recall of Boar’s Head deli meat, impacting approximately 207,528 pounds of products.

On July 30, Boar’s Head expanded the deli meat recall to include seven million additional pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products. Retailers were advised to immediately stop selling the meat and sanitize shelves, while consumers were advised to immediately discard the recalled Boar’s Head deli meat.

The affected meats say “EST. 12612” or “P-12612” inside the USDA inspection mark on the labels.

While announcing the expansion, investigators indicated they had confirmed the Maryland sample was part of the same outbreak. Listeria symptoms usually appear one to four weeks after exposure, although they may start as early as the same day or as late as 70 days after.