July 20, 2024

Much Is Still Unknown as Listeria Again Takes Canadian Lives

	By Ian Austen

When it was announced this week that two people had died from listeriosis after consuming plant-based milk alternatives sold by the French food giant Danone, I immediately thought of the listeria outbreak that peaked during 2008, in which cold cuts made by Maple Leaf Foods killed 22 people in one of Canada's worst food safety disasters in recent years.

A sign with a drawing of a child looking up at a star. It reads: Danone, One Planet, One Health.

Neither Danone nor the Canadian government will say what company made the nondairy milk linked to two deaths. Benoit Tessier/Reuters

[Read: Listeria in Milk Alternatives Kills Two Canadians and Sickens 10 More]

As in the Maple Leaf Foods case, the first infection related to Silk and Great Value nondairy milk drinks happened almost a year before the recall, which was issued this month. But there's also a stark contrast to 2008 in terms of what the public knows about the deadly outbreak, which has also sickened at least 10 people.

While later inquiries found fault with Maple Leaf's many missteps, Michael McCain, the company's president and chief executive at the time of the crisis, held regular news conferences to acknowledge the company's mistakes and to detail its efforts to clean up the production plants that had produced the tainted cold cuts.

Danone has not held a news conference regarding the deaths linked to its products. Its communications have been limited to two news releases, a concise online statement and some social media posts about the recall.

And a fundamental fact about the outbreak remains a mystery, at least to the public. Neither Danone nor any federal government department will identify the third-party company that produced the tainted drinks or the exact location of the factory.

"There's no transparency whatsoever," said Keith Warriner, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies food safety. "Saying, 'Oh well, you know, it's a third party' — that's even worse. Because I say, Well, can we trust any of the products we've got then? Are they third-party as well?"

Danone did not respond to three email requests for information about the company that made the popular drinks, except to say that its plant is in Ontario. On Friday afternoon, the food producer said that it could not name its supplier "for legal reasons," with no further explanation.

Mostly blue carton with the words unsweetened Silk Almond, Seriously Nutty printed on it as well as images of almonds.

The recall applies to 18 nondairy milks sold by Danone. Shutterstock

When I asked Health Canada for the company's name, it sent me to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. After several exchanges, the agency suggested that I call Danone. In a subsequent email, the inspection agency, which reports to the minister of health, said that it couldn't name the producer "due to confidential business information." It said that it was unable to immediately cite which law or regulation was blocking it from releasing the manufacturer's name.

The inspection agency said that the tainted plant-based milk drinks had been made on a single assembly line dedicated to Danone products and that the line had been shut down. It ignored my questions about the state of the rest of the factory's operations, any other products that are made there and what steps it had taken to ensure that those products are not also tainted.

Dr. Warriner said that once listeria bacteria are in a factory, they spread rapidly. He said that if the plant is indeed continuing to operate, he wants to see how the infection has been isolated to the Danone production line. Dr. Warriner is also curious about whether Danone oversaw the food safety practices in its contractor's plant or if it left that task up to its supplier.

Danone, which had sales of 27.6 billion euros last year, claims to be the world's largest producer of fresh dairy products and plant-based foods and beverages. In 2016, it bought the United States-based company that owned the Silk brand for $10 billion as part of an effort to expand beyond its traditional products like yogurt and Evian mineral water. Demand for milk substitutes — the 18 recalled milks are made from almonds, oats, cashews and coconuts — has steadily increased, particularly since the pandemic.

Whatever the cause of the listeria contamination and whatever the state of the cleanup, Dr. Warriner said that more cases related to the tainted drinks would probably come up.

Listeriosis symptoms, he said, can take up to three months to appear. "It's kind of like a latent pathogen," he said. "It goes from cell to cell."

Listeria bacteria do not cause odors in food or drinks, nor do they produce any other signs of contamination, Dr. Warriner said. And compounding all of this is that many of the products under recall have expiration dates as distant as October. Because of that, consumers who don't closely follow the news may still be drinking the contaminated products.

"I don't think I would be tempted to go out today and buy some almond milk," he said.

Trans Canada

Justin Trudeau, at left, wearing a dark suit, shakes hands with Gen. Jennie Carignan, who is wearing a military uniform decorated with medals and a braided cord.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Gen. Jennie Carignan when she became chief of the defense staff this week. Justin Tang/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press

Matina Stevis-Gridneff, who will soon be moving from Brussels to Toronto as The New York Times's Canada bureau chief, spoke with Bill Blair, the defense minister, about the government's plan to meet its NATO pledge to significantly increase its military spending.
The Ford assembly line in Oakville, Ontario, was supposed to be making electric sport-utility vehicles. Now, after a tepid reception for electric cars, Ford is spending billions of dollars to make its largest fossil-fuel-powered trucks in the plant.
A sudden downpour this week left parts of Toronto underwater, including portions of a major expressway.
A study led by Dr. Troy Grennan, the head of the H.I.V. program at the B.C. Center for Disease Control in Vancouver found that a common antibiotic greatly reduced cases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia when taken every day.
Keanu Reeves, the Toronto-raised actor, published his debut novel, "The Book of Elsewhere." Alexandra Alter, a books reporter for The Times, described it as "a mash-up of sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction and mythology, with a heavy dose of existentialism."
When the federal government bought a new residence in New York for the Canadian consul general, some people incorrectly believed that King Charles III was expanding his personal real estate holdings.
Mary Martin, the Toronto-born talent scout, manager and record executive, has died at 85. She helped start the career of Leonard Cohen, among many other musicians, and she connected Bob Dylan with the Band.
Manny Jacinto, an actor who was raised in Richmond, British Columbia, spoke to Matt Stevens about his role in the latest "Star Wars" series. Please be aware that the conversation contains spoilers for first season of "The Acolyte."

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 16 years. Follow him on Bluesky at @ianausten.bsky.social.

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