The Boar’s Head Virginia meat processing plant at the center of a deadly listeria outbreak will close “indefinitely” the company said on Friday.
Boar’s Head will also stop making liverwurst – the product that tested positive for listeria – and from which nine people died and 57 were hospitalized after eating it this summer.
“Our investigation has identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt [Viriginia] facility and was used only for liverwurst. With this discovery, we have decided to permanently discontinue liverwurst,” Boar’s Head said in a statement on its website.
The Jarratt plant where some 500 people were employed closed in July when Boar’s Head recalled more than 7 million pounds of deli meat and cheese that was made at that facility.
“We do not take lightly our responsibility as one of the area’s largest employers,” Boar’s Head said in the statement. “But, under these circumstances, we feel that a plant closure is the most prudent course.”
Inspection reports over the past year by state and USDA officials found 69 incidents of insanitary conditions, including mold, flying insects, condensation and clogged drains, “rancid” odors and rusty equipment – leading food safety experts to question why the situation festered for so long, as The Post reported.
On July 31 the USDA suspended the facility for failing to maintain sanitary conditions, according to a seven-page report that Boar’s Head posted on its website on Friday.
The 119 year-old family business said “This is a dark moment in our company’s history.”
The outbreak is now the largest listeriosis incident since the 2011 cantaloupe-associated outbreak.
Boar’s Head also said it was implementing new food and safety measures at its other facilities, including installing a new chief food safety officer.
The company is facing multiple lawsuits from families who have lost loved ones and from victims – some of whom were in comas after eating the tainted product – who are still recovering from their illnesses.
New York has seen the most cases with 17 residents getting sick from the contaminated deli meats.
Two people died in South Carolina and there has been one death each in New Jersey, Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee and New Mexico.
It will be a while before consumers trust the iconic brand again, supermarket executive told The Post, describing skittish shoppers who are buying other brands.
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