Boar's Head is adding an approximately 7 million additional pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products to an ongoing deli meats recall.
The Jarratt, Va., provisions establishment announced Tuesday that it was expanding its July 26, 2024, recall of deli meat products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service reported the recall.
As of July 30, 34 sick people have been identified in 13 states, including 33 hospitalizations and two deaths. Samples were collected from sick people from May 29 to July 12, 2024.
Whole genome sequencing results show that a liverwurst sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes.
This expansion includes 71 products produced between May 10 and July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names.
These items include meat intended for slicing at retail delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations. These products have “sell by” dates ranging from 29-JUL-2024 through 17-OCT-24. View full product list. View labels.
They include liverwurst, ham, beef salami, bologna and other products made at the firm’s Jarratt, Virginia, plant.
The products subject to recall were distributed to retail locations nationwide and some were exported to the Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama. The products shipped to retailers bear establishment number “EST. 12612” or “P-12612” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.
Original story
The problem was discovered when FSIS was notified that a liverwurst sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for L. monocytogenes.
The Maryland Department of Health, in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department, collected an unopened liverwurst product from a retail store for testing as part of an outbreak investigation of L. monocytogenes infections. Further testing determined the product sample tested positive for the outbreak strain.
Anyone concerned about illness should contact a healthcare provider.
FSIS is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public health partners to investigate the multistate outbreak of L. monocytogenes infections linked to meats sliced at delis.
The investigation is ongoing, and FSIS continues to work with the CDC and state partners. The CDC Food Safety Alert, Listeria Outbreak Linked to Meats Sliced at Delis, will continue to be updated with the latest investigation details.
According to the Boar's Head website, retailers carrying their product in Florida include Publix, Milam's Market and Detwilers Farm Market. There has been no evidence reported that any of the contaminated products were sold in Florida.
Consumption of food contaminated with L. monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a serious infection that primarily affects people who are pregnant, aged 65 or older, or with weakened immune systems. Less commonly, persons outside these risk groups are affected.
Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms.
An invasive infection spreads beyond the gastrointestinal tract. In people who are pregnant, the infection can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature delivery or life-threatening infection of the newborn. In addition, serious and sometimes fatal infections can occur in older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. Listeriosis is treated with antibiotics.
Persons in the higher-risk categories who experience flu-like symptoms within two months after eating contaminated food should seek medical care and tell the health care provider about eating the contaminated food.
FAST FACTS
- Illnesses: 34 (6 new)
- Hospitalizations: 33 (5 new)
- Deaths: 2 (0 new)
- States: 13 (1 new)
- Recall: Yes
- Investigation status: Active (First posted on July 19, 2024)
FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators and in retail deli cases. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them and retailers are urged not to sell these products with the referenced sell by dates. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
Consumers who have purchased these products are also urged to clean refrigerators thoroughly to prevent the risk of cross-contamination.
FSIS recommends retail delis clean and sanitize all food and non-food surfaces and discard any open meats and cheeses in the deli.
Retailers may refer to FSIS’ guideline, Best Practices Guidance for Controlling Listeria monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens, for information on steps to prevent certain ready-to-eat foods that are prepared or sliced in retail delis and consumed in the home, such as deli meats and deli salads, from becoming contaminated with L. monocytogenes.
Consumers with questions regarding the recall can contact Boar’s Head Provisions Co., Inc., Customer Service at 1-800-352-6277. Media with questions can contact Elizabeth Ward, Vice President of Communications, Boar’s Head Provisions Co., Inc., at media@boarshead.com.
Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov.
For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.
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