A third person in Ontario has died from a Listeria outbreak linked to Great Value and Silk plant-based beverages, the province’s Health Ministry announced Monday afternoon.
The statement follows an outbreak update released Monday by the Public Health Agency of Canada, which said there were 20 confirmed cases of listeriosis – the illness 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 beverage with a best before date of October 4 or earlier and containing the number 7825 in the product code.
The Listeria contamination originated from a dedicated production line at Joriki Inc., a third-party beverage packaging facility in Pickering, Ont., used by plant-based beverage maker Danone Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency discovered last week.
The people became ill between August 2023 and mid-July 2024, the Public Health Agency of Canada said. Thirteen of the cases were in Ontario, five in Quebec, one in Nova Scotia and one in Alberta.
The sick people range in age from 7 to 89, and 70% of the cases were aged 50 and over. Fifteen people have been hospitalised in connection with the outbreak, the agency said.
This invites consumers to check if they have affected products and throw them away or return them to the place where they were purchased.