“We’ve reached an agreement on the class action subject to court approval,” Calgary lawyer Clint Docken, who is representing a handful of clients, said in aCanadian Pressnews report on July 16.
Compensation was set at $4 million, and a hearing will be held in the fall to formally approve the deal. The majority of the settlement will go to those who became ill after eating the contaminated meat. The actual number of claimants won’t be known for several months, according to the report. Payments could range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars.
“People who suffered injury, particularlyE. colipoisoning, as a result of consuming the meat are also potentially subject to a settlement as well,” Docken said. “There were some that suffered very serious illnesses and ended up with extensive hospitalization.”
In 2012, JBS USA assumed management of the XL Foods facility and later negotiated an exclusive option to purchase the beef packing plant.
Earlier this year, MEAT+POULTRY reported that documents obtained byCTV News, a Canadian news station, revealed food safety problems continued at the XL Foods processing facility two years after the recall.
For example, in October 2014, beef trim exported to the US tested presumptive positive forE. coliO157:H7. The agency said an application was submitted to return 18 bins of the beef for rendering in Canada or rendering within the US under a plan approved by the Food Safety and Inspection Service.
