Feds close Boar’s Head Deli Meat plant amid unsanitary conditions and food safety rule violations

August 29, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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VIRGINIA AND NATIONWIDE — Unsanitary conditions and flagrant violations of federal regulations contributed to a deadly Listeria outbreak at a Boar’s Head deli meat plant in Virginia, the U.S. Agriculture Department told the Associated Press on Thursday, Aug. 29. The outbreak has now caused nine deaths, the latest being an 88-year-old Gunter Morgenstein, who was sickened after eating Boar’s Head liverwurst in July. Government inspectors found and logged 69 instances of “noncompliance” with federal rules in the past year, including several in recent weeks, including recurring instances of mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings, and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment, according to newly released records.

The plant will remain closed “until the establishment is able to demonstrate it can produce safe products,” U.S. Agriculture Department officials said in a statement Thursday. Boar’s Head officials had halted production at the Jarratt, Virginia, plant in late July as delis around the country pulled their meat products from sale.

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