Ontario listeriosis cases linked to plant-based milk are rising. Why some products remain on the shelves

Ontario’s Ministry of Health confirmed this week that a third person from the province has died in a Listeria outbreak linked to recalled plant-based milk. Still, some of the popular products remain on grocery store shelves.

The update came as the Public Health Agency of Canada said there were 20 confirmed cases of listeriosis in four provinces.

Twenty people, including 13 in Ontario, five in Quebec, one in Nova Scotia, and one in Alberta, have fallen ill. The affected products include Silk brand oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, almond-coconut milk and almond-cashew milk, as well as Great Value brand almond milk with best-before dates up to and including Oct. 4 and containing the number 7825 in the product code.

Of those who have fallen ill, fifteen people have been hospitalized. The age range is between seven and 89 years old, but 70 per cent of the cases are over 50.

The agency said people became sick between August 2023 and mid-July 2024.

Lori Burrows, biochemistry and biomedical sciences professor at Hamilton’s McMaster University, says Listeria is a slow organism because it first invades human cells before causing disease.

“It can be up to two months before you have symptoms,” said Burrows. “I think this is one of the reasons why it took so long to piece together what was going on here.”

The central route of Listeria transmission is through contaminated food. The common sources include unpasteurized dairy products, raw vegetables, and ready-to-eat meats, such as hot dogs and deli meats.

Silk products are still popping up province-wide

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has since confirmed that Listeria contamination of several plant-based milks occurred in a factory in Pickering, Ont. The contamination happened on a “dedicated production line” at Joriki, a third-party beverage packaging facility used by plant-milk manufacturer Danone Canada.

The agency said the production line has been “completely disassembled while inspection at the facility is ongoing.”

In a statement to CityNews, a spokesperson for Danone Canada said production has progressively increased to get its products back on store shelves.

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“Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively increased the frequency and number of tests in all Silk refrigerated products, production and warehousing facilities,” said Danone Canada’s Jennifer Vincent.

Burrows, meanwhile, urged people who may have purchased these various products to check their fridges and pantries.

“Throw them out. Otherwise, they’ll forget we had this conversation,” she said. “You don’t want someone cracking one open in October and starting this whole cycle again.”

The outbreak may not be limited to the provinces or territories with known illnesses because the recalled plant-based beverages were distributed nationally.

Symptoms of listeriosis can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness.

Pregnant people may only have mild, flu-like symptoms, but listeriosis can still lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn or stillbirth, the recall notice said.

With files from The Canadian Press and Meredith Bond of CityNews