Boar’s Head plans to reopen a meat packaging plant in Jarratt, Virginia, that was the source of a listeria outbreak in 2024 that sickened dozens of people and killed 10. The company had closed the plant indefinitely after liverwurst packaged there had been linked to the deaths.
A shocking report from the New York Times shortly after the Boar’s Head recall explained that the plant had evidence of meat that was exposed to wet ceilings, extensive rust, and the presence of green mold. But last month, the USDA lifted a suspension on the Virginia plant’s ability to operate after the Food Safety and Inspection Service was provided evidence it could operate safely, according to the Post.
The Associated Press published a new article last week that Boar’s Head plants in other states had experienced sanitation problems similar to the ones found at the Jarratt plant in 2024 before the listeria outbreak. The AP obtained information through freedom of information requests about Boar’s Head plants in three states, which found evidence of “meat and fat residue left on equipment and walls, drains blocked with meat products, beaded condensation on ceilings and floors, overflowing trash cans, and staff who didn’t wear protective hairnets and plastic aprons.”
The USDA noncompliance reports obtained by the AP come from Jan. 1 to July 23 of this year, and also note that staff sometimes didn’t wash their hands. The Boar’s Head plants are located in Forrest City, Arkansas; New Castle, Indiana; and Petersburg, Virginia. And the AP spoke with food safety experts who said they were “surprised” that Boar’s Head seemingly hadn’t fixed its sanitation problems after such a deadly outbreak.
After the listeria outbreak in 2024, Boar’s Head said it would create a “Boar’s Head Food Safety Council” comprised of “independent industry-leading food safety experts,” according to a press release from last year. But the company has seemed to be less than willing to talk about problems at its facilities, even cancelling an interview with the AP, according to the news service. The AP was supposed to talk with Natalie Dyenson, Boar’s Head’s new food safety officer, but that didn’t happen.
The New York Times has characterized Boar’s Head as “secretive,” given the fact that the company’s own chief financial officer couldn’t name the CEO during a deposition in 2022. The privately held company does billions of dollars in annual revenue, but the two families that run it, the Brunckhorsts and the Bischoffs, are “intensely guarded,” as the Times put it.
It’s not clear when the Jarratt plant may reopen. But a spokesperson for Boar’s Head told Gizmodo in an emailed statement that the company had recently made “enhancements.”
“Boar’s Head has an unwavering commitment to food safety and quality. That commitment is reflected in recent enhancements to our practices and protocols, which you can read about at https://boarshead.com/food-safety,” the statement reads. “We have also been working with the USDA in developing a plan to re-open our Jarratt facility in a measured, deliberate way in the coming months.”
The USDA didn’t immediately respond to questions about the reopening of the plant on Friday afternoon. Gizmodo will update this article if we hear back.
Read the full article here
