Government inspectors documented unsanitary conditions at several Boar’s Head deli meat plants, not just the factory that was shut down last year after a deadly outbreak of listeria poisoning, federal records show.
Newly released reports from Boar’s Head plants in New Castle, Indiana; Forrest City, Arkansas; and Petersburg, Virginia, described multiple instances of meat and fat residue left on equipment and walls, dripping condensation falling on food, mold, insects and other problems dating back roughly six years. Last May, one inspector documented “general filth” in a room at the Indiana plant.
The U.S. Agriculture Department released the inspection records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The problems documented at the three factories echo some of the violations found at the Jarratt, Virginia, plant linked to the food poisoning outbreak. The newly released reports describe:
— Equipment “covered in meat scraps” in 2019.
— “Dry crusted meat from the previous day’s production” and “dark, stinky residue” left behind in 2020.
— A doorway covered in “dried meat juices and grime” in 2021.
— Green mold and flaking paint in 2022.
— “Unidentified slime” and “an abundance of insects” in 2023.
— A puddle of “blood, debris and trash” in 2024.
Boar’s Head officials said in an email Monday that the violations documented in the three factories “do not meet our high standards.” The company’s remaining plants continue to operate under normal USDA oversight, they added. The Sarasota, Florida-based company has marketed itself for decades as a premier provider of deli meats and cheeses, advertising “excellence that stands apart in every bite.”
Records from a fourth Boar’s Head plant in Holland, Michigan, do not show similar problems.
Boar’s Head stopped making liverwurst and shuttered its Jarratt, Virginia, plant in September after listeria poisoning tied to the product sickened more than 60 people in 19 states, including 10 who died.
Health officials in Maryland initially discovered listeria contamination in a package of unopened liverwurst. The company recalled more than 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat deli