Move over daytime soap operas—deli drama is the new must-watch.
Boar’s Head, the 120-year-old deli-meat brand that became the unwilling star of last year’s deadly listeria outbreak, says its Jarratt, Virginia plant will reopen in the coming months.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service even waved the federal marks of inspection back on July 18 after a “thorough” review.
Cue the triumphant trombone...
But before you toast a rye slice with a wink and, say, an olive, it’s worth noting that government inspection reports from Arkansas, Indiana and other Virginia plants show the same style of sanitation sins that led to the contamination which killed 10 people, sickened dozens and forced Boar’s Head to recall more than 7 million pounds of deli products and permanently stop making liverwurst.
That recall was big enough to make grocery aisles audibly nervous.
The clean-up, allegedly
USDA officials stated the Jarratt facility is “in full compliance of the guidelines and protocols set for the safe handling and production of food,” and that the “serious issues that led to suspension have been fully rectified.”
Boar’s Head, for its part, says it “regret[s] and deeply apologize[s]” and has been “working with the USDA in developing a plan to reopen our Jarratt facility in a measured, deliberate way in the coming months.”
The company has posted job openings—ranging from line workers to a food safety quality analyst—and convened a panel of advisers that includes Frank Yiannas, a former FDA official, and Mindy Brashears, the former USDA undersecretary nominee who now heads a food-safety center at Texas Tech.
Natalie Dyenson, the new food-safety officer, was slated for an AP interview that was later canceled.
But the inspection reports read like a deli-horror anthology
Documents obtained by the Associated Press via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) detail months of recurring violations: meat and fat residue left on equipment and walls, drains clogged with meat, beaded condensation dripping over conveyor belts, overflowing trash cans and employees skipping hairnets, plastic aprons and handwashing.
In April, an inspector at the Petersburg plant reported discarded meat under equipment—“5–6 hams, 4 large pieces of meat and a large quantity of pooling meat juice,” the report says. How Charming...
Consumer advocates are not impressed.
Brian Ronholm of Consumer Reports dryly noted: “You would have expected after all they went through that they would put themselves in a place where you could essentially eat deli meat off the factory floor.” (Please don’t.)
Representative Rosa DeLauro called the findings “appalling,” saying the reports reveal “a pattern of negligence—cutting corners to protect the company’s bottom line at the expense of consumers.”
Hard to argue with the passionate alliteration.
Culture problem or just a soggy mop?
Experts pin the problem on more than stray grease.
Barbara Kowalcyk of George Washington University told the AP inspectors’ notes point to a “food safety culture problem,” adding that the change usually has to start at the top.
That’s corporate speak for: someone needs to stop treating sanitation like a suggestion box item.
Former USDA official Sandra Eskin, now with STOP Foodborne Illness, said: “If there is evidence that food safety problems are continuing, the government needs to make sure the company fixes them.”
Translation: a sternly worded memo won’t cut it—nor will a new plaque placed by the break room sink.
Lawsuits, silence, and nondisclosure agreements
Boar’s Head has faced multiple lawsuits from those who fell ill and families of those who died.
Several survivors settled—and many signed nondisclosure agreements, which is corporate shorthand for “we paid; we’ll pay you to not scream into the void.”
When invited to explain the new reports, company officials canceled interviews and declined to let outside adviser Yiannas detail what he found.
Brashears did not respond; an automatic reply said she was traveling abroad until Aug. 25.
No word on whether she packed hand sanitizer...
So should you still buy deli meat?
I have always loved eating Boar's Head brand and never questioned their quality...yet now, I haven't bought Boar's Head since this issue surfaced.
So should people still buy it??
The short answer is: proceed with your usual mixture of caution and grocery-store bravery.
Kowalcyk advises that people who are pregnant, elderly, or immuno-compromised should be especially careful—listeria is not picky about your dinner plans.
Boar’s Head promises fixes and protocols; regulators say they reviewed the plant.
Critics want proof those fixes are durable and systemic, not cosmetic.
Meanwhile, the public gets to watch as a beloved lunchbox staple attempts a comeback—with more paperwork than ever, and perhaps some extra elbow grease.
If nothing else, this episode should remind us all that whenever your sandwich arrives, there’s a whole backstage world—sometimes spotless, sometimes suspicious—between the factory floor and your plate.
And yes, if you see anything that looks like pooling meat juice under equipment, maybe order salad!
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Boar’s Head: From “Excellence in Every Bite” to “Unidentified Slime on Every Wall”
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