Federal health inspectors found dozens of violations at a facility in Jarratt, Virginia that manufactured Boar’s Head deli meat products.
The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) published a 74-page report describing dozens of violations at the facility between January 2022 and August 2024.
During that time, inspectors found puddles of blood on the floor, flies and other bugs, growing mold, meat residues on food-contact surfaces, meat spray on the walls and floors, dirty equipment, liquid dripping from the ceiling, and many other violations of food safety.
There were 69 violations noted in the last year alone, according to the report. Many of the violations were risk-factors for Listeria, a bacteria that thrives in wet environments.
The deli meat has been linked to the largest outbreak of Listeria in more than a decade, with at least 9 deaths and 57 people hospitalized nationwide.
Boar’s Head has paused production at the facility since late July, when the first recalls were issued due to Listeria contamination in a liverwurst product. The company later expanded the recall to include more than 7 million pounds of deli meat that was made at the facility in Virginia.
Consumers who bought any of the recalled deli meats from Boar’s Head are being urged to double-check their refrigerators, and to clean any surfaces that might have touched them with bleach.
Anyone who may have eaten the recalled deli meat products should be vigilant for the symptoms of a Listeria infection, which can take up to 10 weeks to appear.
In healthy adults, the symptoms of Listeria include headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, fever, and muscle aches. Pregnant women may show no symptoms, but suffer a miscarriage, stillbirth, or life-threatening infection of the newborn baby.
Source: Bugs, mold and mildew found in Boar’s Head plant linked to deadly listeria outbreak
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