One person has died and another 37 confirmed with illnesses from food-borne bacteria in connection with a pork recall from an Alberta meat shop near Wetaskiwin.
Alberta Health Services has connected the cases, 11 of which required hospitalization, with pork from the Meat Shop at Pine Haven operated by the Pine Haven Hutterite colony.
The matter has led to a recall of various pork products from several different distributors, all of them in Alberta, which may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7.
Edmonton law firm James H. Brown and Associates filed a class action suit April 25 against both the meat shop and the colony. It is seeking $15 million in damages, according to a statement of claim.
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The suit names Nora Romero as the representative plaintiff and alleges that Pine Haven had “negligent quality control, monitoring, processing, storage, distribution and sale of the recalled pork.”
Pine Haven meat shop manager Tim Hofer said April 30 that development of a statement of defence to the suit was in progress. The shop is closed and he said the operation was taking things “one step at a time.”
“There is steps that we’re working on but at this point in time, in light of this class action that’s in the process of happening, I can’t really speak about the situation at all,” Hofer said.
The meat shop’s website has a notice of recall with a checklist of the products affected.
The recalls, which began April 24 and were initiated by Pine Haven, were expanded again April 30 when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a recall for sliced pork belly from Rimbey Foods Ltd. of Rimbey, Alta., and three types of sausage from Fuge Fine Meat in Edmonton. The recall affects products distributed between Feb. 19 and April 27, in the case of Rimbey, and sausage with best before dates from May 3 to May 26 in the case of Fuge.
That recall was added to others issued April 27 for certain pork products distributed by Acme Meat Market of Edmonton, H & A Food Sales and Services of Alhambra and Real Deal Meats Ltd. of Edmonton.
The recall has widened as AHS and the CFIA continue an investigation.
“The affected pork products supplied by the Meat Shop at Pine Haven may have been transformed into raw muscle meat cuts, ground pork, sausages, and raw ready-to-eat products. The products, which have been sold fresh or frozen, have only been distributed in Alberta,” AHS said in a news release.
“The AHS investigation has determined that certain raw and ready-to-eat pork products sold and distributed by the Meat Shop at Pine Haven has a common link between lab-confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7.”
Both AHS and the CFIA encouraged consumers to check for recalled products and throw them out or return them to place of purchase.
Diarrhea is the most common symptom associated with ingesting E. coli, said AHS, and in severe cases it can cause kidney damage.
Symptoms usually start within one to 10 days of eating contaminated food. However, most people who get sick from it will recover on their own within about 10 days.
E. coli-related illness most commonly occurs when in contact with human or animal feces or from direct contact with a person or animal that carries the bacteria.
Washing hands, washing vegetables and fruit before eating and cooking meat to recommended temperatures are among the safeguards.
A complete list of the products subject to the pork recall can be found at bit.ly/1iKZJd2.
