Boar’s Head listeria outbreak: Wrongful death lawsuit filed

Lawyers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against deli meat company Boar’s Head on behalf of the family of an 88-year-old man who died after eating one of the recalled products.

Gunter Morgenstein was from Newport News, Virginia, but the suit was filed in Sarasota, Florida, WAVY reported. Boar’s Head is based in Florida, but the plant where the recalled meats were processed is in Virginia, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

The lawsuit states that the man was taken to a hospital for difficulty breathing. He started to improve the day after he was admitted.

“We just thought it was just like a little scare or something like that, or a normal routine thing none of us ever would have expected,” Garshon Morgenstein, the man’s son, told the news station.

But the octogenarian didn’t recover, dying 10 days after he was admitted. Doctors diagnosed him with sepsis and listeriosis, determining that he had eaten liverwurst purchased at a Newport News Harris Teeter store on June 30.

He ate liverwurst sandwiches for a week and started to have symptoms including shortness of breath, weakness and diarrhea. Eventually, he was taken by ambulance to an area hospital where he died.

The lawsuit said that doctors performed “aggressive measures” trying to save Gunter Morgenstein who left behind a wife and son.

“Gunter was a very active and vibrant personality and was still working right up until his illness,” Ron Simon, the attorney representing the Morgenstein family, said, according to the Herald-Tribune. “He should not have died from eating a sandwich. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims affected by this completely avoidable travesty. Through this lawsuit and others, we will make sure that all listeria victims are fairly compensated for their losses.”

Gunter Morgenstein was one of nine people who died after eating Boar’s Head products, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Another 57 people have become sick in 18 states.

Other lawsuits have been filed connected with the outbreak and recall. A pregnant woman in Minnesota nearly lost her unborn child and has sued the company after having to be hospitalized for six days and being given a strong antibiotic to save her child’s life. A Missouri couple also sued saying that an 88-year-old woman became “deathly ill” after eating the tainted lunch meat. A proposed class-action suit was also filed in New York federal district court, the Herald-Tribune reported.

Seattle attorney Bill Marler specializes in food safety and said that Congress should investigate the outbreak and why inspectors allowed issues to continue. The Herald-Tribune said Marler is representing a family in a lawsuit against the company.

Boar’s Head recently updated its website, saying, “We are conducting an extensive investigation, working closely with the USDA and government regulatory agencies, as well as with the industry’s leading food safety experts, to determine how our liverwurst produced at our Jarratt, Virginia facility was adulterated and to prevent it from happening again.”

The company has stopped production at the plant at the center of the recall.

Inspectors said they found black mold, flies and bits of meat left on food-contact surfaces at the Boar’s Head plant in Jarratt, Virginia. Inspectors said they had found 84 issues at the plant from June 2023 through August. One issue that was not on the list was listeria, a bacteria that forced the recall of 3,500 tons of meat, The New York Times reported.

Boar’s Head ready-to-eat liverwurst products, produced between June 11 and July 17, 2024, were recalled. The liverwurst had a 44-day shelf life and sell-by dates of July 25 through Aug. 30. They were produced in Virginia and came in 3.5-pound loaves, or various weights after being sliced in delis. Some of the items had sell-by dates into October, the CDC said.

The company also recalled all of its other deli products that had the same shelf life and production location. The CDC said, to “look for ‘EST. 12612′ or ‘P-12612′ inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.”

Listeria can spread on deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food and refrigeration does not kill the bacteria. High heat, however, can kill bacteria. You may have consumed the bacteria well before any symptoms appear since it can take up to 10 weeks to get sick. Typically symptoms will appear in two weeks but can start as early as the same day you’re exposed, the CDC said.

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