Lawsuit alleges Boar's Head misled consumers over listeria outbreak

A Queens woman's class action lawsuit accuses deli supplier Boar's Head of failing to make consumers aware of a listeria outbreak at a Virginia manufacturing facility before it sparked a nationwide recall covering 71 of the company's meat products.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, alleges that Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc. "improperly, deceptively, and misleadingly labeled and marketed its Products to reasonable consumers, like Plaintiff, by omitting and not disclosing to consumers on its packaging that the Products are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes."

Boar’s Head, which is based in Sarasota, Florida, did not respond to an email Monday seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Listeria poisoning is caused by a particularly resilient type of bacteria that can survive and grow even during refrigeration, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since late May, at least 33 people in 13 states on the East Coast and in the Midwest have been hospitalized with listeria bacteria linked to meat sliced at deli counters, including the liverwurst produced by Boar’s Head — and two people died from complications of those exposures, authorities said last week.

Twelve consumers have been infected in New York State, a spokesperson for the state Department of Health said, including four in New York City, two in Suffolk County and one in Nassau.

Plaintiff Rita J. Torres, of Queens, filed the class action suit "individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated," her complaint said. 

"The Class is defined as all consumers who purchased the Products anywhere in the United States during the Class Period," the complaint said. " . . . Plaintiff believes that there are thousands of consumers in the Class and the New York Class who are Class Members as described above who have been damaged by Defendant’s deceptive and misleading practices."

Neither Torres nor her attorney were available for comment Monday.

The suit seeks statutory damages of $50 per transaction, plus treble damages "for knowing and willful violations" by Boar’s Head. It also seeks additional statutory damages of $500 per transaction and punitive damages under New York State Law, as well as costs, expenses and attorney fees associated with bringing the suit.

In a statement posted last Tuesday on its website, Boar's Head said it had "initiated an immediate and voluntary recall" of its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst after learning July 25 it "had the potential to be adulterated" with listeria. The company then took further action to recall all items produced at its Jarratt, Virginia, facility after being informed by the USDA on July 29 that the liverwurst had, in fact, been linked to the outbreak, according to the statement.

Boar’s Head said it has recalled nearly 7 million pounds of meat and poultry products in addition to a prior 207,528 pounds recalled in its initial action.

In a statement Monday, Stop & Shop, which has 50 supermarkets on Long Island, said the company "has been very open with our customers about this issue. From the moment we became aware of the issue on July 26th we notified our customers and the media and proactively closed all of our deli counters, removed impacted products and conducted deep cleaning of our deli areas."

On Monday, Ron Gercken, a co-owner and manager at Ferring Deli, a local landmark on Grand Avenue in Baldwin, said his staff has been busy trying to get customers the latest information on the recall — and reassure them all potentially contaminated products have been removed.

Gercken said Ferring had five of the Boar’s Head items recalled: liverwurst, bologna, ham capicola, olive loaf and Black Forest ham. 

"Basically, we had to clean all our machines, our cases, everything," he said. "But the company [Boar’s Head] has been very on top of things."

Gercken said he has been at Ferring for 25 years — and said when he was younger his father had a Boar’s Head delivery route.

"I know they take safety very seriously, because it’s their reputation, their name, and so I think they’ve been spot on with how they’ve dealt with this," he said. "They tell us the products are now deemed safe — and so I believe that. But, while I tell the customers we believe these [items] are safe now, I also tell them, ‘It’s your body, it’s your choice, and I can’t make the decision for you if you still have concerns, so do what you think is best for you.’ " 

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”