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Fueling Minds to be sentenced Thursday for operating without licence in Calgary daycare E. coli outbreak

City lawyers have proposed a $10,000 fine after Fueling Minds admitted operating without a food services licence during the 2023 daycare outbreak.

The Calgary Courts Centre is pictured in Calgary, Monday, May 6, 2024. An Alberta court has denied the appeal of a Calgary man convicted three years ago of a Ponzi scheme that saw his clients bilked out of millions of dollars. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
From left; Sarah MacDonald, Kyla Herman, and Whitney Mercer all had children who were infected with E. coli during an outbreak linked to a kitchen operated by Fueling Minds Inc. The mothers were at the Calgary Courts Centre on Tuesday May 27, 2025 to listen to the sentencing after the company pleaded guilty in April to four offences relating to the company’s failure to have a catering licence. The company was fined $10,000.Gavin Young/Postmedia
Kyla Herman, left and Whitney Mercer hug after talking to media at the Calgary Courts Centre on Tuesday May 27, 2025. The mothers had children in daycare who were infected with E. coli during an outbreak linked to a kitchen operated by Fueling Minds Inc. The company pleaded guilty in April to four offences relating to the company’s failure to have a catering licence and was fined $10,000.Gavin Young/Postmedia
Pictured is a Fueling Minds childcare catering and delivery van outside the Fueling Brains Academy at McKnight Towne Square on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

Overview

  • Fueling Minds will face sentencing on May 29 after pleading guilty in April to operating without a food services business licence at the time of the outbreak.
  • The September 2023 E. coli outbreak sickened at least 448 people, mostly children, and sent 39 children and one adult to hospital with 23 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome.
  • An Alberta Health Services report found the likely source was a beef meatloaf served from Fueling Minds’ central kitchen on August 29, 2023.
  • Lawyers for Fueling Minds and the City of Calgary jointly recommended a $10,000 fine, and prosecutors intend to seek withdrawal of remaining charges against two company directors.
  • Fueling Minds held a kitchen licence but not a catering licence during the outbreak, and several lawsuits, including a proposed class-action, remain before the courts.