The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Food Safety Alert on Aug. 8, 2024, for a Listeria outbreak linked to meats sliced at delis that has sickened consumers across 13 states with three deaths.
The Listeria outbreak originated with Boar’s Head Reay-to-Eat Liverwurst products produced between June 11 and July 17, 2024, with a 44-day shelf life. The “Boar’s Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst made in Virginia” product comes in 3.5 pound loaves in plastic casing, or various weight packages sliced in retail delis.
While the Liverwurst meats in question have a sell by date range from July 25, 2024, to Aug. 30, 2024, Boar’s Head has also recalled all deli products, including pre-packaged deli products, in shelf life from the establishment where the Listeria outbreak originated.
Boar’s Head Expand Recall to 7 Million Pounds of Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry Products
Boar's Head Provisions Co., Inc., a Jarratt, Va., establishment, is expanding its July 26, 2024, recall of deli meat products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on July 30, 2024.
“This expansion includes 71 products produced between May 10, 2024, and July 29, 2024, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names. These items include meat intended for slicing at retail delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold at retail locations. These products have “sell by” dates ranging from 29-JULY-2024 through 17-OCT-24,” explained the FSIS. “The products subject to recall were distributed to retail locations nationwide and some were exported to the Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Panama. The products shipped to retailers bear establishment number “EST. 12612” or “P-12612” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels.”
A complete list of recalled Boar’s Head products can be found here.
Listeria Outbreak Has Killed People in Illinois, New Jersey, and Virginia
The Boar’s Head Listeria outbreak in the summer of 2024 has killed consumers in Illinois, New Jersey, and Virginia.
43 total people have become sick, all of them hospitalized including consumers in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The Listeria outbreak and source were confirmed by two different states:
- The problem was discovered when FSIS was notified that a liverwurst sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for L. monocytogenes. The Maryland Department of Health, in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department, collected an unopened liverwurst product from a retail store for testing as part of an outbreak investigation of L. monocytogenes infections. Further testing determined the product sample tested positive for the outbreak strain.
- The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets' Division of Food Safety and Inspection collected unopened Boar's Head liverwurst products from retail stores and the New York State Food Laboratory identified Listeria monocytogenes. WGS determined it to be the same strain as the strain making people sick in this outbreak.
FSIS is Concerned that Contaminated Meat May Still be in Circulation
The FSIS is concerned that some products may be in consumers’ refrigerators and in retail deli cases. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them and retailers are urged not to sell these products with the referenced sell by dates.
These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. Consumers who have purchased these products are also urged to clean refrigerators thoroughly to prevent the risk of cross-contamination.
“FSIS recommends retail delis clean and sanitize all food and non-food surfaces and discard any open meats and cheeses in the deli. Retailers may refer to FSIS’ guideline, Best Practices Guidance for Controlling Listeria monocytogenes in Retail Delicatessens, for information on steps to prevent certain ready-to-eat foods that are prepared or sliced in retail delis and consumed in the home, such as deli meats and deli salads, from becoming contaminated with L. monocytogenes,” advised the FSIS.
What Consumers and Businesses Should Do
The CDC advises consumers and businesses to take the following action:
- Do not eat recalled deli products. Throw them away or contact stores about returns.
- People who are at higher risk for getting sick with Listeria, such as those who are pregnant, are aged 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system, should always avoid eating meats sliced at deli counters, unless heated to an internal temperature of 165°F or until steaming hot just before serving.
- Clean your refrigerator, containers, and surfaces that may have touched sliced deli meats.
- Call your healthcare provider if you have symptoms of Listeria and recently ate meats sliced at deli counters.
- Businesses that received recalled meats should take extra precautions like cleaning and sanitizing and throwing away opened sliced meats and cheeses at delis. Businesses should also follow USDA-FSIS best practices for controlling Listeria contamination in deli areas.
“Products sold at the deli, especially those sliced or prepared at the deli, can be contaminated with Listeria. Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands, and food. Refrigeration does not kill Listeria, but reheating to a high enough temperature before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats,” says the CDC about the outbreak.
What You Should Know About Listeria
The CDC says these are some facts you should know about Listeria:
- Listeria can cause severe illness (known as invasive listeriosis) when the bacteria spread beyond the gut to other parts of the body.
- Pregnant people typically experience only fever, fatigue, and muscle aches. However, Listeria infection during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threating infection of the newborn.
- People who are not pregnant may experience headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions, in addition to fever and muscle aches.
- Symptoms of severe illness usually start 1 to 4 weeks after eating contaminated food with Listeria but may start as early as the same day or as late as 70 days after.
Consumers with questions regarding the recall can contact Boar’s Head Provisions Co., Inc., Customer Service at 1-800-352-6277.
Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.
