Company at centre of Calgary E. coli daycare outbreak pleads guilty

A daycare company that supplied food to multiple child-care facilities linked to an E. coli outbreak in 2023 is on trial starting Thursday.

Guilty pleas have been accepted by a Justice of the Peace ahead of what was supposed to be the start of a two-day trial for a company operating the kitchen connected to an E. coli outbreak at multiple Calgary daycares.

The City of Calgary charged Fueling Minds Inc. and its two directors, Faisal Alimohd and Anil Karim, in September with serving food at childcare centres without the required food services business licence.

The corporation pleaded guilty to four of the charges related to operating without proper licencing and the charges against the co-directors personally are expected to be withdrawn, the city’s lawyer said.

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A joint submission by the lawyers representing the city and Fueling Minds Inc. recommended a $10,000 fine, but Justice Mathieu St-Germain has reserved sentencing until late May.

Alimohd spoke briefly in court on Thursday, but Karim was travelling for business and not present.

“I’m here today because we take this seriously,” Alimohd said to the Justice of the Peace. “I’m sorry that our business did not obtain a catering licence. In hindsight, I wish we would have done this. We have since closed down this business.”

The case stems from an eight-week E. coli outbreak first declared in September 2023 that sickened hundreds of Calgarians, mainly children.

A report released by Alberta Health Services says at least 448 infections can likely be traced back to meatloaf from the company’s central kitchen.

The central kitchen served close to 1,300 attendees and 250 child-care facility workers during the period in question.

No one died from the E. coli exposure, but 38 children and one adult were hospitalized for severe illness.

With files from The Canadian Press and Teri Fikowski