EDMONTON (CANADIAN PRESS) — A lawsuit alleges that XL Foods processed beef products knowing it had poor quality control systems and that it put profits above the safety of consumers.
The statement of claim has not been proven in court and a judge will determine if it may proceed as a class-action lawsuit.
An Edmonton man who got sick from E. coli after eating a steak on Sept. 5 is the first to be named as a defendant in the suit.
Alberta health officials have linked four other cases of E. coli in the province to contaminated steaks processed by XL Foods.
E. coli was first detected at the XL plant in Brooks, Alta., on Sept. 4, but it wasn't until 12 days later that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency started recalling some of its beef products.
The agency temporarily shut down the plant last Friday.
