Boar’s Head, the renowned deli meat company, has announced the recall of an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products manufactured at its Virginia plant, amidst an ongoing investigation into a lethal listeria outbreak, according to statements made by U.S. Agriculture Department officials on Tuesday.
This latest recall encompasses 71 products, produced between May 10 and July 29, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names. It follows a previous recall affecting over 200,000 pounds of sliced deli poultry and meat. The newly recalled items include meats intended for slicing at delis as well as certain packaged meat and poultry products available in stores.
Among the recalled items are liverwurst, ham, beef salami, bologna, and several other products produced at the company’s Jarratt, Virginia, facility.
The recalls are linked to an ongoing listeria outbreak that has resulted in two fatalities and has sickened nearly three dozen individuals across 13 states, as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Almost all affected individuals required hospitalization, with illnesses reported from late May to mid-July.
The issue came to light when a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. Subsequent testing confirmed that the bacteria strain matched the one responsible for the illnesses.
“In an abundance of caution, we decided to immediately and voluntarily expand our recall to include all items produced at the Jarratt facility,” Boar’s Head stated on its website. The company has also suspended production of ready-to-eat foods at the plant.
The recalled meat was distributed to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama, according to Agriculture Department officials.
Consumers in possession of the recalled products are advised not to consume them and to either discard them or return them to stores for a refund, as recommended by company representatives. Health officials further advise that refrigerators should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized to prevent the contamination of other foods.
The CDC estimates that approximately 1,600 people contract listeria food poisoning annually, with around 260 fatalities.
Listeria infections typically result in symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, and fatigue, and can also cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Symptoms may appear quickly or up to 10 weeks after consuming contaminated food. The infections pose heightened risks for individuals over 65, those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women.