A prominent food safety lawyer says more illnesses can be expected and that Congress should investigate Boar’s Head after deli meat produced in one of the company’s plants was linked to an ongoing multistate listeria outbreak.
The outbreak has led to at least 57 hospitalizations and nine deaths in 18 states since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially reported it on July 19. The CDC on Aug. 28 reported six new deaths connected to the outbreak including the first deaths in New Mexico, New York, South Carolina (2), and Tennessee.
There will likely be more illnesses, and possibly more deaths, because the incubation period for listeria may last more than two months, so people who consumed tainted deli meat in July could still develop illnesses, said Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who specializes in food safety.
The CDC’s investigation found that meats sliced at deli counters, including Boar’s Head brand liverwurst, were contaminated with listeria and made people sick. Subsequently, Boar’s Head expanded its recall to include every product made at the facility in Jarratt, Virginia.
This week, inspection reports from the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service revealed that inspectors found insects, mold and mildew at the plant over the 12 months before it was voluntarily shut down because of the outbreak. “This is the worst set of inspection reports I have ever seen,” Marler told USA TODAY.
Congress should investigate how the listeria outbreak arose and why inspectors allowed the plant conditions to exist for so long, says Marler, who is representing the family of one person who died and two others who had illnesses in the outbreak.
