Boar’s Head faces two product recall lawsuits

Boar’s Head continues to navigate through a massive product recall, which now includes a pair of lawsuits.

On July 26, the company initiated a voluntary recall of 10 deli products due to a potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination. In total, over 200,000 pounds of meat, all originating from Boar’s Head’s Jarratt, Va., facility, was recalled.

A few days later, the recall was expanded after the U.S. Department of Agriculture informed Boar’s Head that one of the 10 recalled products, Strassburger Brand Liverwurst, was linked to a national deli meat Listeria outbreak tied to two deaths and 34 illnesses across 13 states.

Upon learning of the Listeria connection, Boar’s Head made the decision to voluntarily recall anything associated with the Jarratt plant, which totaled 7 million pounds of product ranging from ham to bologna to sausage.

Now the company is facing a possible class action lawsuit. The suit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Aug. 1, accuses Boar’s Head Provisions Co. Inc. of improperly, deceptively, and misleadingly labeling and marketing its products by failing to communicate the full extent of the possible Listeria contamination.

Rita Torres is the plaintiff in the lawsuit and purchased one of the recalled products. She states in the lawsuit that she and other customers would not have bought the meat if the company would have delivered a proper warning about the possible Listeria issue.

It’s the second lawsuit tied to the product recall. The first one was filed by a Missouri couple claiming Boar’s Head sold the deli meats that caused Sue Fleming to become “deathly ill.” The lawsuit was filed in the St. Louis Circuit Court on July 26 and names Maryland Heights, Mo.-based Schnucks Markets as a defendant.

In that case, Fleming spent nine days in the hospital after ingesting Boar’s Head liverwurst, and had to spend another 11 days in a rehabilitation center.

Boar’s Head has not responded to a request for comment in time for publication of this story.