USDA inspectors have found dozens of violations at the Boar’s Head, Virginia, plant that is part of a nationwide deli meat recall, according to new records released by the USDA. Mold, rust and insects have been repeatedly found throughout the plant.
Last month, Boar’s Head recalled all deli meats produced at its Jarrett, Virginia, plant after it was discovered that product distributed there was contaminated with listeria.
The outbreak has spread to 57 hospitalizations in more than a dozen states linked to products recalled from the plant. At least eight deaths have been reported in recent days, including new deaths linked to the outbreak in Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico and South Carolina.
“This is the largest outbreak of listeriosis linked to cantaloupe since 2011,” the CDC said Wednesday.
Samples of unopened products distributed from the Boar’s Head plant were confirmed by authorities in several states to be contaminated with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. Genetic sequencing linked the bacteria in the products to the strain that caused the outbreak.
People are urged to double check their refrigerators for the recalled meat and clean any surfaces that may have come into contact with the meat.
“Consumers who were not aware of the recall may have eaten the recalled product. People may also experience long-term illness,” a spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Health said in a statement after the new deaths.
Records released to CBS News by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service under Freedom of Information Act laws show that the agency cited 69 “noncompliances” at the Jarratt plant last year.
It is unclear whether Boar’s Head will face any penalties from the USDA for its repeated problems. No “enforcement action” has been taken against the company in the past year, according to reports released by the agency so far. A USDA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Boar’s Head spokesperson said in a statement that the company deeply regrets the impact of the recall and that food safety is its “absolute priority.”
“As a USDA-inspected food producer, we have inspectors out to our facility in Jarrett, Virginia, every day, and when inspectors find issues that need to be addressed, our team takes immediate action, as we would with all of the issues raised by the USDA in this report,” company spokeswoman Elizabeth Ward said.
Ward said all operations at the Jarratt plant have been halted and the company is working to sanitize the plant and retrain employees. No product will leave the plant “until we meet the highest quality and safety standards.”
“During this time, we conducted a rigorous investigation, working with industry-leading global food safety experts to uncover the truth about the events that led to this recall,” Ward said.
In addition to issues like missing paperwork and meat left on equipment, records show inspectors found Boar’s Head at fault several times for mold buildup around the company’s facility in Jarratt.
In July, federal inspectors found mold growing around sinks where employees washed their hands while handling meat ready to be eaten.
According to previous records, mold was also found growing in a cold storage area between the outside of the steel vats used at the factory and the smokehouse.
“There was a black mold-like substance all over the room at the wall/concrete joints. There was some caulking around the brick/metal,” they wrote in January, adding that some stains were “as big as a quarter.”
In other locations, several issues were found with water leaks and puddles forming, with the puddles found to have “green algae growing” and “water dripping while product was being placed”.
After inspectors notified the company of the leak, workers tried to stop it.
“The leak occurred again within 10 seconds of the third wipe,” inspectors wrote on July 27 after a condensation issue was noted near a fan that appeared to be spraying liquid onto uncovered deli meats.
In addition to water, the USDA has held the company liable for other leaks. In February, inspectors found “large pools of blood on the floor” and a “putrid smell” throughout the coolers used by the plant.
Additionally, several accounts describe sightings of the insects in and around the plant’s deli meats, including one incident where the agency tagged a 980-pound ham in the smokehouse hallway and placed it “in storage” for investigation.
In June, another account was published detailing concerns about flies in a “pickle jar” left in Boar’s Head’s room.
“Small, flying, fly-like insects were observed crawling on the walls and flying around the room. The walls of the room were covered with large piles of meat,” they wrote.
In other parts of the facility, bugs such as ants, beetles and cockroaches were also found moving along the walls.
