Bugs, mold and mildew found in Boar's Head plant linked to deadly listeria outbreak

[Mary Wilson]

Updated on: August 29, 2024 / 4:35 PM EDT / CBS News
By Alexander Tin
Edited By Allison Elyse Gualtieri

Inspectors turned up dozens of violations at a Boar's Head plant in Virginia now linked to a nationwide recall of deli meats, according to new records released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including mold, mildew and insects repeatedly found throughout the site. ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bugs-mold-mildew-inspection-boars-head-plant-listeria/


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[Commonground]

Boar's Head plants nationwide now part of law enforcement investigation, USDA says

​September 26, 2024
Excerpt:

The USDA disclosed the existence of the probe in a letter on Thursday, when it denied a CBS News request for records on Boar's Head's other plants in Michigan, Arkansas and Indiana.

Since the records are being "compiled for law enforcement purposes," the department said releasing them "could hinder the government's ability to further control and shape the investigation."

"Given the ongoing investigation related to this matter, FSIS is withholding 93 pages in full," they wrote.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/boars-...da-says/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=602936205

 

[Commonground]

USDA cut back on listeria testing nationwide, ahead of deadly Boar's Head outbreak

​September 27, 2024​
Excerpts [bolding mine]:

In the year leading up to a deadly listeria outbreak now traced back to recalled Boar's Head deli meats, U.S. Department of Agriculture records show that Biden administration officials quietly made significant cuts to planned testing for germs across America's food supply.​

-snip-

After years of running more than 200,000 tests annually, planning documents in 2023 show the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service made changes that amounted to at least 54,000 fewer lab tests for the coming fiscal year.​

Those cuts spanned a wide range of products overseen by the inspection service, which is tasked with ensuring food safety at slaughterhouses, processing facilities and importers nationwide. The list of changes included fewer tests of poultry for Campylobacter bacteria to ending testing of pork products for "forever chemicals."

For ready-to-eat foods, the category that includes deli meats, inspectors would run 7,392 fewer tests. A large share of that decrease came from a decision to cut random sampling by 50% for the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and salmonella, common culprits of food poisoning outbreaks.
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...https://www.cbsnews.com/news/usda-l...utbreak/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=604033716