Robin Hutchinson said Bay Cuisine's fine 'means nothing'.
Fines of $192,000 handed to meat-processor Bay Cuisine "mean nothing", says the husband of a woman who died in a listeria outbreak.
Bay Cuisine was fined yesterday after admitting it sold contaminated food which lead to a fatal listeria outbreak at Hawke's Bay Hospital three years ago.
Judge Bridget Mackintosh fined Bay Cuisine $130,000, while director Garth Wise was fined $32,500 and production manager Christopher Mackie was fined $30,000.
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) originally laid 155 charges but they were later withdrawn.
Wise, Mackie and the company pleaded guilty to five representative charges of selling contaminated food, charges of suppressing food test results and charges of omitting to provide information to the ministry.
The outbreak resulted in the death of Patricia Hutchinson, 68, in June 2012, and also contributed to the death of an 81-year-old woman, as well as infecting two other patients.
Mrs Hutchinson's husband, Robin Hutchinson, of Hastings, said the fines handed down yesterday would not suffice as punishment, and he was still waiting for an apology from the company.
"From my family's point of view, the fines mean nothing," he said.
"We have been waiting three years for the truth to come out. In this instance the punishment does not fit the crime, but I never thought it would. Two people died as a result of consuming contaminated meat, how can you put a price on such a tragedy?
"This case has taken a little over three years since my wife was taken from me. During that period, those who have pleaded guilty have not contacted me or offered a single word of remorse."
Mrs Hutchinson was in and out of Hawke's Bay Hospital from February to May 2012 for issues relating to Crohn's disease.
She was prescribed azathioprine, an immuno-suppressant, to help with issues related to Crohn's disease.
During various stints in hospital with Crohn's-related issues, Mrs Hutchinson ate hospital food, including cold meats.
MPI began investigating after listeria cases were linked to the hospital kitchen.
Environmental and Scientific Research (ESR) was sent 62 unopened Bay Cuisine cold-meat packages and all were found to contain listeria.
In response to DHB requests, Mackie had said a batch of corned silver side tested negative for listeria, although it had actually tested "presumptive positive", and the company had omitted sending other reports showing that some other product also tested "presumptive positive".
The investigation also included text messages showing Wise suggested Mackie withhold the presumptive results, because there were only three or four of them, and said: " ... we just send the good."
Lawyer for the company and Wise, Jonathan Krebs, said there had never been any intention to sell contaminated product and the decision to omit the results had been done in "the heat of the moment".
But Judge Mackintosh said the suppression of the results had not been "a spur of the moment decision".
"In my view, this was a deliberate deception and one that allowed continued trading to high-risk consumers," she said.
The DHB also believed the penalties for Bay Cuisine should have been harsher.
"While the company has been ordered to pay a large fine as a consequence of its actions, the district health board remains of the view that it would have preferred to see the company facing more severe charges that reflect the seriousness of those acts," a spokewoman said.