Baltimore County, MD — A Baltimore County woman has filed a $30 million lawsuit alleging her newborn child died from a listeria infection she contracted during pregnancy after consuming contaminated ice cream purchased from a local kosher market.
The complaint, filed April 2 in Baltimore County Circuit Court, claims the woman became ill after eating from a 56-ounce tub of Klein’s Vanilla Fudge Ice Cream bought at Seven Mile Market in Pikesville on June 28, 2023. She was 36 weeks pregnant at the time of consumption.
According to the lawsuit, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) later traced a multistate outbreak of listeria to Ice Cream House, a company involved in the manufacturing of the dessert. Ice Cream House and Real Kosher Ice Cream, which share production facilities, along with co-producer Leiby’s Dairy Inc., are named as defendants in the case. The suit also accuses Seven Mile Market of negligence for selling the allegedly contaminated product.
The woman began experiencing symptoms—including sinus congestion, headaches, and abdominal pain—three days after eating the ice cream. She sought medical attention at MedStar Health Urgent Care on multiple occasions and was diagnosed with acute bronchitis.
On July 29, she was admitted to the emergency room at Sinai Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency delivery due to concerns for both her health and the baby’s. Medical notes included in the filing indicate the infant showed minimal signs of movement shortly after birth.
Mother and child were transferred to Johns Hopkins Hospital on or about July 31, where blood tests confirmed both had contracted listeria. The lawsuit states the infection passed from mother to child in utero. The baby died on November 8, 2023, due to complications related to the infection.
Listeria is a resilient bacteria capable of surviving in cold and damp environments, such as ice cream production facilities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that listeria poses significant risks to immunocompromised individuals, including pregnant women, and can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn death.
The plaintiff’s attorneys claim the FDA initiated a recall on June 28, 2023, the same day the ice cream was purchased. However, the first public recall announcements for the involved companies did not surface until August.
On August 9, 2023, Real Kosher Ice Cream recalled its soft-serve, on-the-go products. On August 30, Ice Cream House recalled all dairy products bearing its logo, including the vanilla fudge ice cream. The recalls were linked to a listeria outbreak that hospitalized individuals in New York and Pennsylvania.
FDA inspections conducted at Ice Cream House’s Brooklyn facility between September 6 and September 26, 2023, uncovered numerous violations, including inadequate sanitation procedures, structural issues, and a lack of hazard control measures.
Though the CDC declared the outbreak over by October, the FDA expressed ongoing concern over the company’s practices. A follow-up inspection conducted between February 21 and March 26, 2024, found that the same strain of listeria was still present in the facility. A September 2024 warning letter from the FDA cited continued unsanitary conditions, including leaking equipment and a roof dripping liquid into a bucket.
No further FDA enforcement actions were documented against Ice Cream House, although the agency requested corrective measures ahead of the next inspection. Meanwhile, Leiby’s Dairy Inc., another producer named in the lawsuit, was inspected once in 2023, with no recalls issued.
Despite the incident, Seven Mile Market—one of the largest kosher supermarkets in the country—continues to stock products from Real Kosher Ice Cream. The lawsuit accuses the companies of ongoing disregard for public safety and alleges their conduct warrants punitive damages.
The lawsuit emerges amid broader scrutiny of the FDA’s food safety oversight. According to a January 2025 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the agency has failed to meet recommended inspection levels. Compounding the issue, the FDA recently eliminated up to 170 administrative and management roles, dissolved scientific positions at food safety labs nationwide, and significantly reduced staffing at its Office of Policy and International Engagement.
“These cuts could delay response times to foodborne illness outbreaks and make recalls less effective,” said Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert and advocate whose son died due to an E. coli infection.
State-level oversight has also taken a hit. A Time magazine investigation revealed that budget reductions tied to a federal reorganization have undermined state inspection programs. As of September, Maryland is set to lose approximately 60% of its funding for food outbreak response.
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