After a deadly listeria outbreak stretched across 18 states and killed at least nine people, Boar’s Head will “indefinitely close” the Jarratt, Virginia, meat plant tied to the outbreak.
The deli meat company made the announcement Friday, in a press release posted to their website emphasizing the “regret” and “pain” that the outbreak and subsequent plant closure caused.
“We regret and deeply apologize for the recent Listeria monocytogenes contamination in our liverwurst product,” the release begins. “We understand the gravity of this situation and the profound impact it has had on affected families. Comprehensive measures are being implemented to prevent such an incident from ever happening again.”
Those measures include Boar’s Head permanently discontinuing liverwurst, which was the product that was recalled for causing the listeria outbreak. The “root cause of the contamination” was “a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt facility and was used only for liverwurst,” the company said.
Other measures include “establishing a “Boar’s Head Food Safety Council” comprised of independent industry-leading food safety experts,” the “creation of an enhanced companywide food safety and QA program” and “appointing a new Chief Food Safety & Quality Assurance Officer,” the company said in the release.
You should seek medical care and tell the doctor about eating possibly contaminated food if you have a fever and other symptoms of possible listeriosis
The most drastic measure is the closure of the Virginia plant.
“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,” the company states in the press release.
Included in that release is a link to the USDA’s “notice of suspension,” which stopped production at the plant and which stated that the USDA would “withhold the federal marks of inspection” that are normally printed on to packaging to show that the facility produced food in a safe way.
Documents obtained by the Associated Press through federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests showed that the plant “repeatedly violated federal regulations,” the AP wrote at the end of August.
The violations included instances of mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment.
Between Aug. 1, 2023, and Aug. 2, 2024, inspectors found “heavy discolored meat buildup” and “meat overspray on walls and large pieces of meat on the floor.” They also documented flies “going in and out” of pickle vats and “black patches of mold” on a ceiling. One inspector detailed blood puddled on the floor and “a rancid smell in the cooler.” Plant staff were repeatedly notified that they had failed to meet requirements, the documents showed.
Inspections at the plant had been suspended and it was set to stay closed “until the establishment is able to demonstrate it can produce safe product,” U.S. Agriculture Department officials said in a statement Thursday. Boar’s Head officials halted production at the Jarratt, Virginia, plant in late July.
With Boar’s Head announcing the indefinite closure, that plant may never reopen.
The union representing employees at the Virginia plant, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, released a statement on Friday about the plant’s closure.
““Everyone agrees this unprecedented tragedy was not the fault of the workforce, so it is especially unfortunate that the Jarratt plant must close indefinitely and put so many men and women out of work,” the statement reads. Thankfully these workers have a union they can count on to always have their backs. We appreciate the extraordinary efforts Boar’s Head has made to keep our members on the job as long as possible and to ensure everyone is taken care of during this process.”
The union said its members at the plant will be able to transfer to other Boar’s Head plants, or “accept a severance package well above and beyond what is required under the law.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
