Federal inspections found 69 violations – many of them grisly – at the Boar's Head meat plant at the center of a deadly, nationwide Listeria The outbreak has now left nine people dead, 57 people sick and hospitalized in 18 states, and resulted in a nationwide recall of over 3.6 million kilograms of meat.
The Jarratt, Virginia-based plant has had repeated problems with mold, water leaks, dirty equipment and rooms, meat residue sticking to walls and equipment, various types of vermin and, at times, pools of blood on the floor, according to inspection reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Services. The reports were provided to CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request. In total, the reports describe 69 violations between August 1, 2023 and August 2, 2024 alone.
The results of the reports show that the conditions were perfect for the company's meat to become contaminated with the pathogen responsible for the deadly outbreak. Listeria monocytogenes. It is a resilient germ that is found everywhere in the environment, including soil and water, and spreads between humans via the fecal-oral route. In healthy people, it usually causes only gastrointestinal infections. However, in the elderly, newborns, and people with weakened immune systems, it can cause a life-threatening invasive infection with a mortality rate of about 17 percent. It also poses a significant threat to pregnant women, as it can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births, and life-threatening infections in newborns.
While it always lurks, L. monocytogenes is particularly a problem in the food industry because of its remarkable ability to multiply at refrigerator temperatures – conditions under which the growth of other dangerous germs is normally limited.
Deposits and errors
In the Boar's Head complex L. monocytogenes seemed to have various opportunities to increase its numbers. For one, the plant had a long list of garbage and meat debris in various locations, sometimes reported along with insect sightings. For example, on June 10, an inspector entered the “pickle barrel pump room” and noticed “heavy meat deposits” on the walls, which were also swarming with flies and mosquitoes. That same day, while inspecting another area, a roll-up door was found with meat deposits, and a water pipe above the door dripped a steady stream of water down the wall and onto the floor. There was also a “constant line of ants” and a population of ladybugs, a cockroach and a beetle of some sort. Earlier, on March 13, an inspector inspecting a room adjacent to the one where net-wrapped hams were handled found garbage and meat protein on the floor, including “whole pork muscles.”
An inspection on August 8, 2023, also found processing lines covered in meat particles and waste. There was “heavily discolored meat buildup” on a hydraulic pump, and pieces of meat and fat were stuck to the support struts of a catwalk. A scale on the inspection line had pieces of meat and waste in it – and it smelled foul. “Several meat stocks were found on the floor throughout the department. Also, standing water containing a brown mud/dirt-like substance,” the inspection states.
The facility had numerous problems with water leaks and condensation, consistent with the numerous other mold incidents. The facility temporarily repaired water pipe leaks by wrapping the pipes in plastic. On October 26, an inspector noticed a plastic-wrapped pipe in the curing chiller. The plastic was dated August 17, and “orange/brown water had accumulated” at the lowest hanging point.
Blisters and blood
On January 9, an inspection of a cold storage room revealed black mold spots the size of quarters throughout the room. On July 23, an inspector noticed bubbles in the paint on the wall around the employee hand sinks. The bubbles were filled with water. And under the sinks, the inspector discovered black mold and pink mildew.
On July 17, the inspector discovered “green algae growth” in a puddle of standing water in a raw goods cooler. And on July 27, an inspector noticed a square spot on the ceiling leaking clear liquid. Behind the spot were two other spots that were also leaking. An employee came and wiped the liquid away with a sponge, but it came back within 10 seconds. The employee wiped it away again, and within 10 seconds the liquid came back again. Meanwhile, a nearby ceiling fan blew the leaking liquid onto uncovered hams in a hallway outside the room.
And to top it all off, a February 21 report found a cooler with “large amounts of blood in pools on the floor” and a “rancid odor.”
According to USDA documents, the agency has not taken any enforcement action against Boar's Head, and there is no data on swab testing for Listeria at the Virginia facility. The facility has been closed since late July after health investigators identified the outbreak strain of L. monocytogenes in unopened containers of Boar's Head Liver Sausage.
In a statement updated on August 29, Boar's Head said, “We are conducting a comprehensive investigation, working closely with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and state regulators, as well as the industry's leading food safety experts, to determine how our liverwurst produced at our Jarratt, Virginia facility was adulterated and to prevent it from happening again… We will not resume operations at this facility until we are confident it meets USDA regulatory requirements and Boar's Head's highest quality and safety standards.”