Boar’s Head shutters Virginia plant tied to deadly listeria outbreak

Boar’s Head Provisions will no longer make liverwurst and is closing the Virginia facility at the center of a listeria outbreak that killed nine people and hospitalized at least 57 in 18 states, the producer of deli meats announced on Friday.

“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,” the company said in a statement posted on its website.

The plant in Jarratt, Virginia, has not been operational since late July, when the company recalled millions of pounds of deli meat products after listeria was detected in liverwurst produced at the facility.

Inspectors turned up dozens of violations at the plant, the setting for the nation’s largest listeriosis outbreak since one linked to cantaloupe in 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Federal inspectors cited the plant repeatedly after finding leftover meat on equipment, mold and mildew buildup, insects in and around deli meats and puddles of blood on the plant’s floor. 

The company’s investigation found the process used to make liverwurst to be behind the contamination and has therefore decided to no longer make the product at any of its facilities, Boar’s Head stated.

Roughly 500 union workers are impacted by the company’s decision to close the plant, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers, the union that represents them. 

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can spread through water, mist, on workers clothes and hands and improperly sanitized equipment. In 2002, a listeria outbreak in turkey deli meat was linked to eight deaths and three “fetal deaths” among pregnant women, according to an account published by the National Library of Medicine. 

The USDA has a zero-tolerance policy for listeria in ready-to-eat meats, meaning any amount of contamination makes the product unsafe for consumption. 

In addition to meats, the privately held Boar’s Head brand, started in 1905, includes cheeses, hummus and condiments.