Boar’s Head is closing its manufacturing plant in Jarratt, VA, indefinitely and permanently ceasing liverwurst production amid an outbreak of Listeria infections that has sickened dozens and killed nine.
The announcement today, September 13, included an apology and said “comprehensive measures” are being taken to prevent such incidents in the future. The company said it has found the cause of the problem, but did not say specifically what went wrong.
“First and foremost, our investigation identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt factory and was only used for liverwurst. With this discovery, we have decided to permanently discontinue liverwurst,” the Boar’s Head statement said.
“In response to the inspection data and reports of non-compliance at the Jarratt plant, we will make no excuses. In the spirit of full transparency, we share with you the July 31, 2024 USDA Suspension Notice received by our Jarratt facility here.”
USDA inspectors have identified serious problems in 2022 that could have led to strict measures such as a production pause. But the factory continued to operate and some conditions persisted. Inspectors warned that conditions at a Boar’s Head factory posed an “imminent threat” to public health, citing extensive rust, meat products exposed to wet ceilings, green mold and holes in the walls.
These are the inspections from 2022 – 2024:
In response to the outbreak, Boar’s Head initiated a liverwurst recall on July 25 this year. On July 30, it expanded the recall to include 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products from its Jarratt, VA plant.
The outbreak has sickened 57 people in 18 states, with all patients requiring hospitalization. More patients are likely to be identified, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are also concerns that some consumers may still have dangerous products in their homes because their expiration dates are not until well into October.
“We recognize that you want and deserve answers, and that you wanted them quickly, but we needed to take the necessary time to conduct an in-depth review and analysis of all our processes and procedures – not just at our Jarratt factory , VA, where our liverwurst was made, but in all of our Boar’s Head Provisions meat production facilities,” the Boar’s Head statement said.
The company reports that it is working closely with the USDA and state government regulators in its investigation. It has also sought advice from leading food safety experts to oversee the investigation.
“This is a dark moment in our company’s history, but we plan to use this as an opportunity to improve food safety programs, not just for our company, but for the entire industry,” the Boar’s Head statement said.
To prevent future incidents, the company says it is immediately implementing enhanced food safety and quality measures. These measures include:
- Appointment of a new Chief Food Safety & Quality Assurance Officer (CFSO), reporting directly to the President of Boar’s Head. The company is now recruiting and aims to get this new director started as soon as possible.
- Establishment of a Boar’s Head Food Safety Council, made up of independent, leading food safety experts, some of whom have assisted in current research at the Jarratt facility.
“The Food Safety Council, which may evolve over time and as necessary, will support the company’s adoption and implementation of enhanced quality assurance programs and create a new standard for food safety in the industry. The board will serve as an advisor to the new Chief Food Safety Officer and to the company as a whole,” the company said.
The founding council members are Dr. David Acheson, Mindy Brashears, Dr. Martin Wiedmann and Frank Yiannas.
Boar’s Head described the councilors as follows.
David Acheson, MD, FRCP, has served as president and CEO of The Acheson Group since the founding of the global food safety advisory group in 2013. Previously, he was a partner and managing director of Leavitt Partners, where he founded and led the firm’s food safety services. Before taking on his role in the industry, Dr. Acheson spent eight years at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where he rose from Chief Medical Officer of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition to Associate Commissioner for Foods.
Mindy Brashears, Ph.D., is a leading expert and academic in the field of food safety. Brashears is the former Assistant Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is currently a professor of Food Safety and Public Health and director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University.
Martin Wiedmann, Dr. med. vet., Ph.D., is a food microbiologist, Cornell University Gellert Family Professor of Food Safety, and co-director of the New York State Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence. Trained as a veterinarian and nutritional scientist, Dr. Wiedmann focuses on a comprehensive and interdisciplinary ‘farm to fork’ approach to food safety and quality. He has conducted extensive research on foodborne pathogens and their prevention, with notable insights into emerging food safety threats and cutting-edge technologies that will contribute significantly to the work of our council.
Frank Yiannas, MPH, is the former Assistant Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. His leadership in implementing the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has significantly improved food safety standards across the country. Yiannas, a renowned food safety expert, microbiologist and author, has also held food safety leadership roles at Walmart and Disney. He is a past president of the International Association for Food Protection and past vice president of the Global Food Safety Initiative, as well as an adjunct professor in the Food Safety Program at Michigan State University.
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