A third Ontario person has died from a Listeria outbreak linked to plant-based beverages made by Great Value and Silk, the province’s health ministry said Monday afternoon.
The statement follows an outbreak update released by the Public Health Agency of Canada on Monday, which said there were 20 confirmed cases of people with listeriosis – the disease caused by the Listeria bacteria – in four provinces.
Affected products include Silk brand oat, almond, coconut, almond-coconut and almond-cashew beverages, as well as Great Value brand almond beverages with an expiration date earlier than or equal to October 4th that contain the number 7825 in the product code.
The Listeria contamination came from a special production line at Joriki Inc., a third-party beverage packaging facility in Pickering, Ontario, used by plant-based beverage maker Danone Canada, the Canadian agency found during a food inspection last week.
The people became ill between August 2023 and mid-July 2024, the Canadian public health agency said. Thirteen of the cases occurred in Ontario, five in Quebec, one in Nova Scotia and one in Alberta.
Those affected range in age from 7 to 89, and 70% of cases were 50 years or older. According to the agency, 15 people have been hospitalized in connection with the outbreak.
This encourages consumers to check whether they have affected products, throw them away or return them to where they were purchased.
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