Three years after tainted meat led to a deadly listeriosis outbreak and the largest food recall in Canadian history, victims and their families are still waiting to receive compensation agreed to in an out-of-court settlement.As she prepares for a big Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends, Karen Clark is still haunted by the vision of her mother Francis lying in a Belleville, Ont., hospital gasping for breath in the summer of 2008.
Francis Clark was one of 23 people who died of listeriosis after eating meat from a Toronto-area Maple Leaf Foods processing plant.
"It was awful. The stare. She wasn't even blinking. She looked like a fish that had been laid up on the shore."
The tragedy resulted in two investigations and a settlement. Though he had disparaged lawyers in the case who were planning to sue, Maple Leaf Food president and CEO Michael McCain agreed to pay out up to $27 million to victims who got listeriosis that summer, and their family members. The settlement was announced in January 2009.