New Yorkers are feeling the pinch in their pockets after a listeria outbreak affected 7 million pounds of cold cuts. (Credit: WNYW)
Department of Agriculture inspectors found unsanitary conditions including “insects and slime” at Boar’s Head facilities outside the now-closed facility linked to last year’s deadly listeria outbreakreports show.
USDA released a series of reports of noncompliance related to Boar’s Head following Freedom of Information Act requests from several news agencies, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
A Boar’s Head deli meat display was seen at a grocery store in Athens, Georgia. ((Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)/Getty Images)
The findings from inspections of Boar’s Head plants in New Castle, Indiana, Forrest City, Arkansas, and Petersburg, Virginia, date back about six years and flagged numerous violations, the AP said.
The outlet pointed to multiple descriptions in the reports, including equipment “covered in meat scraps,” “dry crusted meat from the previous day’s production,” “dark, foul-smelling residue” and “unidentified slime” and “an abundance of insects.”
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In response to the new revelations, Boar’s Head told the AP that the violations cited in the reports on the three factories “do not meet our high standards.”
FOX Business has reached out to Boar’s Head for comment.
The Department of Agriculture headquarters is seen behind a sign marking the site of the complex on February 9, 2024 in Washington, DC (J. David Ake/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Descriptions of facility conditions are consistent with violations identified by the USDA Boar’s Head’s Jarrett, Virginia, plantwhich the company closed last year after it was identified as the source of a listeria outbreak that resulted in nine deaths and nearly 60 hospitalizations linked to contaminated products produced at the facility.
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In August, the USDA released a report detailing numerous violations at the Jarrett plant from January 2022 to August 1, 2024, including “multiple pieces of meat found around the department floor” and “standing water containing a brown sludge/dirt-like substance.”
Boar’s head meat is displayed at a Safeway store on July 31, 2024 in San Rafael, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)/Getty Images)
Multiple reports indicated that the machines were used to make delicatessen meat products at the Jarrett plant was not cleaned and had “meat residue” and “meat deposits” on the products.
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In addition, in January 2024, a “black moldy substance” was observed at the plant.
FOX Business’ Christine Rousselle contributed to this report.
