(Bloomberg Law) -- Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc. is facing a proposed class action in federal court alleging it deceived customers by failing to disclose that its products were contaminated with Listeria.
Boar’s Head misleadingly labels and markets its products to “reasonable consumers,” like lead plaintiff Rita J. Torres, the complaint said, by failing to advertise or disclose on its packaging that its Virginia ham, beef salami, and other products are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes—disease-causing bacteria that “could lead to serious and life-threatening adverse health consequences.”
The US Department of Agriculture said July 26 that Boar’s Head was recalling its liverwurst product because of possible Listeria contamination after a US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service announcement. It also listed several ready-to-eat deli meat products from the company, produced on June 27, including Virginia ham, bologna, salami, and others.
Boar’s Head announced an expansion of its recall July 30 to include about 7 million additional pounds of meat and poultry, after whole genome sequencing results showed that a liverwurst sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for the listeria outbreak strain. The expansion included 71 products.
According to Boar’s Head’s July 30 release, the company said it learned the day before from the USDA that its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst had been linked to a national deli meat listeria outbreak. “Based on this new information, we took steps to ensure we are doing everything possible to protect public health,” the release said.
Any consumer made aware of the recall “would be predisposed to throwing the Products away,” the complaint says, but the company “is also aware that consumers shop in multiple locations and may or may not purchase the Products at the same location each time. Also, most consumers do not maintain receipts and therefore cannot obtain a refund at the purchase location for the recalled Products.”
While Boar’s Head issued a recall of its products July 25, the recall “was deliberately designed to preclude the vast majority of consumers from receiving a recall,” according to the complaint filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York Aug. 1. The recall was “designed to reach very few people and designed to benefit very few of the consumers who purchased the Products,” the complaint says.
The outbreak has become “a significant public health concern,” given that high-risk groups for listeria, such as pregnant women, infants, and the elderly, have an elevated risk of developing severe symptoms, including death, the complaint says.
The company has a profit motive in limiting news of the outbreak, the complaint alleges. Boar’s Head products at risk of containing “have no value, or at the very least, Defendant was able to charge significantly more for the Products than they would have” had the company not omitted the fact that its products do or may contain listeria, the complaint says.
The company said it decided to “immediately and voluntarily” expand the recall to include all items produced at its Jarratt, Va., facility.
Torres, of Queens, NY, seeks certification for a nationwide class of consumers who purchased the products in the class period, as well as a subclass of consumers in New York.
She alleges violations of state business laws and seeks damages, attorneys’ fees, and costs.
A Boar’s Head representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sultzer & Lipari PLLC and Adams Reese LLP represent the plaintiff.
The case is Torres v. Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc., E.D.N.Y., No. 24-05405, Complaint 8/1/24
To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Skolnik in Washington at sskolnik@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Blair Chavis at bchavis@bloombergindustry.com
(Updates throughout, containing information about the recall, related announcements, and the suit.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
