Queensland

  • Pregnant Aussie mom sues airline over listeria in chicken wrap, premature birth

    Posted: May 22nd, 2011 - 11:32am by Doug Powell

    In Aug. 2009, two pregnant women in Australia gave birth prematurely and seven others were confirmed sick with listeriosis after eating contaminated chicken wraps that were sold to thousands on Virgin Blue flights from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, triggering a national public health alert.

    From the outset, Virgin Blue has blamed suppliers.

    On Friday, one of those pregnant women, Renee Cherry, launched legal action in the Supreme Court on behalf of her son Zayd Fokeera, now aged almost two, seeking compensation from Virgin Australia.

    According to a statement of claim, a pregnant Ms Cherry flew from Townsville to Brisbane, then from Brisbane to Melbourne, on May 23, 2009.

    During the flight, it is claimed, Ms Cherry bought a chicken roll from flight attendants, and she suffered listeria poisoning as a result.

    "The roll was tainted and not fit for human consumption, as it contained listeria bacteria," according to the statement of claim.

    "The listeria bacteria poisoned the blood of the plaintiff's mother and the plaintiff and caused him to suffer injury."

    Zayd was born two months after the flight, suffering from listeriosis, gastro-intestinal injury, developmental delay, and anxiety.

    There is a claim for medical expenses and loss of prospective income and earning capacity, as well as damages. A trial before a judge and jury is sought.

    A Virgin spokesman said the writ had not been served on the airline, and it could not comment because it had not seen the details of the claim.
     

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    Listeria  |  1 Comment
    food safety, Listeria, Pregnant, Queensland, virgin australia, Virgin Blue
  • Tainted plane food linked to listeriosis increase in Australia

    Posted: August 6th, 2009 - 12:15pm by Doug Powell

    Our friends are pregnant and recently returned from Australia; I hope they didn’t fly Virgin Blue.

    The Australian reports tomorrow morning     that two pregnant women gave birth prematurely after eating contaminated chicken wraps that were sold in their thousands on Virgin Blue flights from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, triggering a national public health alert.

    The airline confirmed yesterday that up to 5000 flights in May and June could have carried the snacks laced with potentially deadly listeria bacteria.

    Five Queenslanders are known to have contracted listeriosis food poisoning after consuming the wraps, including the two women who gave birth prematurely, a known complication of the illness.

    Both women and their babies survived.

    The Brisbane Times reported yesterday that Queensland Health has confirmed nine cases of listeriosis so far this year, compared to 56 cases nationally. Last year, 12 cases were recorded for the whole of 2008 in Queensland, compared to 68 nationally.

    Virgin Blue today in a statement an outside contractor may have been to blame, adding,

    "It appears the likely source of the contamination was an ingredient supplied to the manufacturers of the wraps and not Virgin Blue or other companies who received the affected products. Virgin Blue has removed the product from service at the end of June."

    Brisbane-based solicitor Mark O'Connor stated what any company should know: Virgin Blue served the food, Virgin Blue is responsible.

    "The airline in turn would have to make a claim against the supplier of the food but for passengers, it’s the airline that is liable.”

    Virgin Blue should check on its suppliers rather than trying to cover their ass with (bad) PR.

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    Food Safety Policy, Listeria, Raw Food  |  0 Comments
    Australia, Pregnant, Queensland, Risk, Virgin Blue