Bill Marler, food safety advocate and foodborne illness attorney since 1993, whose Seattle law firm, Marler Clark’s work was recently profiled in the Netflix documentary “Poisoned,” The Dirty Truth about your Food, is calling on Boar’s Head to pay the medical bills and lost wages of the victims of the deli outbreak in the United States that has so far sickened 34, killing two.
The CDC reports this morning that epidemiologic, laboratory, and traceback data show that meats sliced at deli counters, including Boar’s Head brand liverwurst, are contaminated with Listeria and are making people sick.
As of August 8, a total of 43 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from 13 states, Georgia (2), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Massachusetts (2), Maryland (6), Minnesota (1), Missouri (2), North Carolina (1), New Jersey (2), New York (12), Pennsylvania (1), Virginia (2) and Wisconsin (1). Sick people’s samples were collected from May 29, 2024, to July 19, 2024. Of 43 people with information available, all 43 have been hospitalized. One person got sick during their pregnancy and remained pregnant after recovering. Three deaths have been reported, including one in Illinois, one in New Jersey, and, as of this update, one in Virginia. Range in ages of illnesses is from 32 to 94 years with median age of 77.
The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses. This is because some people recover without medical care and are not tested for Listeria. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported as it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.
The Maryland Department of Health and Baltimore City Health Department collected an unopened Boar’s Head liverwurst product from a retail store and identified Listeria monocytogenes. Additionally, the New York State Food Laboratory identified Listeria monocytogenes from a previously collected sample of unopened Boar’s Head liverwurst products collected by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Division of Food Safety and Inspection from retail stores. WGS determined both to be the same strain as the strain making people sick in this outbreak. USDA-FSIS conducted traceback of deli meats purchased by sick people in this outbreak to identify producers of interest for further investigation.
“Unfortunately, those numbers will likely rise in the coming week,” Marler said. “The cost of treating victims of Listeria infections can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, or in a severe case, even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. These families need Boar’s Head to do more than promise to cooperate in the investigation into this outbreak. They need to know that Boar’s Head intends to fulfill their corporate responsibility by looking out for their customers,” added Marler.
Marler noted that over the last two decades in other outbreak-situations, companies such as Chi-Chi’s, Dole, Jack in the Box, Conagra, Odwalla and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.
William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. colioutbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others.. Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses. He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.