We're finally hearing about the conditions at a Boar's Head plant linked to a recent listeria outbreak that has resulted in multiple deaths — and it sounds like they were absolutely appalling.
Insects, meat residue, black mold: that's just a small sampling of what federal inspectors from the US Department of Agriculture found at the deli meat company's factory in Virginia, CBS News reports.
The sheer number of issues they found is staggering. From July 2023 to this August, records released by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection service and obtained by CBS show that inspectors logged a total of 69 "noncompliances" at the Virginia plant.
You can view the full thing here, but just a few examples will serve to paint a grody picture of Boar's Head's practices.
A recurring theme is the seemingly inescapable presence of "meat buildup" on all sorts of machines and equipment, including a pump used for curing the meat. Some patches of buildup were even found clinging to the walls of the facility.
Mold was everywhere, too. "A black mold-like substance was seen throughout the room at the wall/concrete junction," inspectors logged in January. "As well as some caulking around brick/metal."
Gross liquids were also in abundance. In February, inspectors found "ample amounts of blood in puddles on the floor," per CBS, and a "rancid smell in the cooler."
The last entry, listed as July 27, reported a "clear liquid" leaking from the ceiling, as well as an employee's comical attempts to wipe up the leaks three times in a row— only for them to start again, in each instance, ten seconds later.
And last but not least: creepy-crawlies. On an especially gross day in June, inspectors spotted some twenty flies moving in and out of vats of pickles. A room storing inedible products had a "steady line of ants" entering through a partially open roll-up door. Inside the cure cooler — where meats are stored to kill off bacteria — they also found several dead insects during a July inspection.
After the listeria outbreak was traced back to the Virginia plant last month, Boar's Head was forced to recall all its products that were made there — an astounding seven million pounds worth of ham, sausage, and chicken.
Listeria is a foodborne illness that's especially harmful to pregnant people, newborns, and adults over 65, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It infects roughly 1,600 people in the US each year, killing around 260.
So far, this latest outbreak's spread has resulted in at least nine deaths and 57 hospitalizations.
"This is the largest listeriosis outbreak since the 2011 outbreak linked to cantaloupe," the CDC said Wednesday, as quoted by CBC.
According to The New York Times, USDA records show that two listeria tests at the Boar's Head plant in 2016 and 2021 turned up negative. It's unclear, however, if the facility carried out its mandated listeria testing outside of that.
"We want to assure consumers that no product will be released from this facility until it meets the highest quality and safety standards that you deserve and expect," a Boar's Head spokesperson told the NYT.
The plant has been shut down for now, per CBC, but it remains unclear whether the USDA will take any action against Boar's Head.
More on meat: Scientists Reveal Grim Results of Eating Two Slices of Ham Per Day
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