The Toronto Star reports in tomorrow’s paper that while a March 2009 announcement by Maple Leaf Foods describing a "fair and early settlement" of an estimated $27 million to victims following their 2008 Listeria outbreak, no money has been paid out.

They have not paid out one penny to anyone,” said Walter Muller, who was awarded a small amount after he got sick from what he thinks was salami that was later part of a nationwide recall of cold cuts contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes in the summer of 2008. 

The deadline for victims or their family members to submit a claim was in November 2009. The timeline for actually putting the cheque in the mail, on the other hand, keeps getting extended.

The Star reports that no money will be paid to any claimants until all claims are settled or arbitrated and detailed medical evidence can be collected and verified.  

 Laura Bruneau,  president of the Bruneau Group who is handling the claims cites delays in scheduling doctor’s appointments as the problem “People are reporting to us that it can take anywhere from six to eight months to get an appointment to see their physicians.” Wow.

Lawsuits and settlements can take a while to resolve but unfortunately those affected by the pathogen are the big losers in the delays. Revisiting this outbreak over two years after it occured also demonstrates the need for food businesses to have a long-term recovery and crisis management strategy — it’s so much more than being open, transparent and available during the early days of the incident.