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topicnews · September 3, 2024

View full list of recalled items

View full list of recalled items

“These are the worst inspection reports I have ever seen,” says food safety attorney Bill Marler.

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A prominent food safety advocate is warning that more illnesses are to come and that Congress should investigate Boar’s Head after deli meats produced at one of the company’s plants were linked to an ongoing listeria outbreak in several states.

The outbreak has resulted in at least 57 hospitalizations and nine deaths in 18 states since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first reported it on July 19. On August 28, the CDC reported six new deaths linked to the outbreak, including the first deaths in New Mexico, New York, South Carolina (2) and Tennessee.

There will likely be more illnesses and possibly more deaths because the incubation period for listeria can be more than two months, so people who ate spoiled deli meat in July could still get sick, said Bill Marler, a Seattle-based food safety attorney.

The CDC’s investigation found that meat cut at deli counters, including Boar’s Head brand liver sausage, was contaminated with listeria and making people sick. As a result, Boar’s Head expanded its recall to include all products made at its Jarratt, Virginia, factory.

This week, inspection reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service revealed that inspectors discovered insects, mold and mildew at the plant in the 12 months before it voluntarily closed due to the disease outbreak.

“This is the worst inspection report I have ever seen,” Marler told USA TODAY.

Listeria outbreak map: See which 18 states are affected by an outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meat

Congress should investigate how the listeria outbreak occurred and why inspectors allowed conditions at the factory to continue for so long, said Marler, who represents the family of one fatality and two others who became ill in the outbreak.

“It’s crazy. Not only was this plant more capable of producing listeria than meat, but what did the inspectors do?” he told USA TODAY.

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Boar’s Head list of recalled sausage products

The CDC says its data has shown that meat sliced ​​at deli counters, including Boar’s Head brand liver sausage, was contaminated with listeria and made people sick.

After a link between the liver sausage and the outbreak was confirmed, Boar’s Head said on July 29 that it had “voluntarily decided to extend our recall to all items manufactured in the same factory as our liver sausage. We have undertaken this comprehensive and precautionary recall totalling seven million pounds because we were convinced it was the right thing to do.”

Below you will find a list of recalled products. Here you can see the labels of the recalled products.

What did federal inspectors find at the Boar’s Head plant?

Inspectors discovered live and dead insects, as well as black and green mold and mildew, at the factory in the weeks before Boar’s Head Provisions Co., Inc. ordered a recall of more than 200,000 pounds of liver sausage on July 26 due to possible listeria contamination.

In June 2024, inspectors also saw “a steady line of ants” on a wall, and in February 2024, they found “large amounts of blood in puddles on the floor” in the plant’s raw material receiving cooler. “There was also a rancid smell in the cooler.”

“Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, it’s a no-brainer to hold hearings in Congress about why this happened and why the FSIS inspectors dragged this out,” Marler said.

In total, the Food Safety and Inspection Service filed 69 reports of “noncompliance” at the plant last year. The agency’s documents were first obtained by CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request; USA TODAY also made a request for the inspection documents and independently verified the reports.

Map shows which states are affected by the listeria outbreak

The CDC reports that nine people have died and 57 people have become ill in 18 U.S. states due to a listeria outbreak linked to sliced ​​deli meat.

The map below shows where the 57 people affected by the listeria outbreak lived. Deaths occurred in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and South Carolina (2).

Contributor: Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY

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