39°
The company made the announce early Friday afternoon, Sept. 13.
"Major deficiencies" at the facility in the rural southern Virginia town of Jarratt posed an “imminent threat” government inspectors warned after discovering "rusted equipment, condensation dripping on the floor and green mold on a wall" about two years before the initial recall on Friday, July 26, according to The Washington Post.
But the US Agriculture Department did not impose strict measures and the plant continued to operate until Boar's Head paused production at the facility in late July, The New York Times said.
"Given the seriousness of the outbreak, and the fact that it originated at Jarratt, we have made the difficult decision to indefinitely close this location, which has not been operational since late July 2024," Boar's Head said on Friday. "It pains us to impact the livelihoods of hundreds of hard-working employees.
"We do not take lightly our responsibility as one of the area’s largest employers. But, under these circumstances, we feel that a plant closure is the most prudent course. We will work to assist each of our employees in the transition process."
Boar's Head said its own investigation has identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt facility and was used only for liverwurst.
With that discovery, it said it has decided to permanently discontinue producing liverwurst,.
After an initial recall of around 200,000 pounds of deli meat due to possible Listeria contamination, the company expanded it to approximately seven million additional pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products on Tuesday, July 30.
Boar's Head's recall includes 71 products produced between Friday, May 10, and Monday, July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said.
The products have “sell by” dates ranging from 29-JUL-2024 through 17-OCT-24.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it's the largest Listeria outbreak since one in 2011 linked to cantaloupe.
In the latest update on the Boar's Head outbreak released late last month, the CDC said 14 new illnesses have been reported, bringing the total amount of hospitalizations to 57 in 18 states.
Six new deaths linked to the outbreak have brought the number of fatalities to nine, from the following states: South Carolina (two) and one each in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Tennessee, and New Mexico.
"This is a dark moment in our company’s history," Boar's Head added in its Friday announcement, "but we intend to use this as an opportunity to enhance food safety programs not just for our company, but for the entire industry."
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Oxford and receive free news updates.
