Senators Stabenow, Murray and Sanders, it is past time to have hearings about the Boar’s Head Listeria Outbreak

As of August 27, a total of 57 people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria have been reported from 18 states – Including: Arizona 1, Florida 3, Georgia 2, Illinois 1, Indiana 1, Maryland 8, Massachusetts 3, Minnesota 1, Missouri 3, New Jersey 5, New Mexico 1, New York 17, North Carolina 1, Pennsylvania 2, South Carolina 2, Tennessee 1, Virginia 4, Wisconsin, 1.

Sick people’s samples were collected from May 29, 2024 to August 16, 2024. Of 57 people with information available, all 57 have been hospitalized. One person got sick during their pregnancy and remained pregnant after recovering. Nine deaths have been reported, including one in Illinois, one in New Jersey, one in Virginia, and as of this update one in Florida, one in Tennessee, one in New Mexico, one in New York, and two in South Carolina.

Here are the three U.S. Senate Committees with oversight over the USDA/FSIS and Food Safety. Time to step up and ask hard questions.

Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Like its House counterpart, this Senate committee oversees agricultural policies, including food safety and the USDA’s inspection services.

Committee on Appropriations: Specifically, the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies also has oversight of the USDA’s budget and funding related to food safety.

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP): This committee addresses health issues, including food safety regulations and policies.

The below might help your staff get up to speed.

Publisher’s Platform: What you need to know about the Boar’s Head Listeria Outbreak https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/08/242347/

Boar’s Head plant had dozens of violations, dubbed ‘listeria factory’ by lawyer https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/boars-head-plant-dozens-violations-dubbed-listeria-factory-lawyer

The number and breadth of the violations prompted food safety attorney Bill Marler to call the plant a “listeria factory.” 

“In the 30 years of doing food safety litigation, I have seen several hundred inspection reports.  This group of ‘non-compliance’ reports are some of the worst that I have ever seen,” Marler told FOX Business in an email. 

Additionally, the lack of resolution to these issues is “likely criminal violations under the Federal Meat Inspection Act,” he said. 

“What is described in the reports – piles of meat, water, mold and insects – is a perfect place for Listeria to grow,” he said.  “This plant was more a Listeria factory than a factory to produced food for human consumption.”

Expect more illnesses in listeria outbreak tied to Boar’s Head deli meat, food safety attorney says https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/09/01/boars-head-recall-deli-meat-listeria/75033322007/

A prominent food safety lawyer says more illnesses can be expected and Congress should investigate Boar’s Head after deli meat produced in one of the company’s plants was linked to an ongoing multistate listeria outbreak.

“This is the worst set of inspection reports I have ever seen,” Marler told USA TODAY.

Congress should investigate how the listeria outbreak arose and why inspectors allowed the plant conditions to exist for so long, says Marler, who is representing the family of one person who died and two others who had illnesses in the outbreak.

“It’s crazy. Not only was this plant better at producing listeria than it was at producing meat, but also, what were the inspectors doing?” he told USA TODAY.

“It’s a layup, whether you are a Republican or Democrat, to have congressional hearings on why this happened and why FSIS inspectors let this thing drag on,” Marler said.

Fed health inspectors slammed over ‘listeria factory’ tied to deadly Boar’s Head outbreak https://nypost.com/2024/08/30/business/feds-slammed-over-listeria-factory-linked-to-deadly-boars-head-oubreak/

Food safety experts slammed government health inspectors for letting a “listeria factory” fester despite dozens of disturbing violations before the deadly outbreak was linked to tainted Boar’s Head deli meats.

The company’s plant in Jarratt, Va., was found to have bugs, pools of blood on the floor and growing mold over the past year, according to records released by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

“These inspection reports show that this was a listeria factory as much as it was a meat factory,” food safety attorney Bill Marler told The Post.

“The government needs to answer the question of what were you doing? Didn’t this generate enough questions given the size of this plant.”

Boar’s Head plant linked to deadly outbreak broke food safety rules dozens of times, records show https://apnews.com/article/boars-head-listeria-recall-fcde06b66dca38d53361c92495a7cfed?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share

Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who has sued companies over food poisoning outbreaks, said the conditions described in the inspections reports were the worst he’s seen in three decades.

William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses.  He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.

Source: https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/senators-stabenow-murray-and-sanders-it-is-past-time-to-have-hearings-about-the-boars-head-listeria-outbreak/