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Following Outbreak, Boar’s Head Forms Food Safety Council of Top Experts, Closes Facility, Discontinues Liverwurst

sliced deli meat on a plate — Image credit: 8photo via Freepik

In a September 13 statement from the company, Boar’s Head announced that it is indefinitely closing the Jarratt, Virginia plant—which suffered from a history of serious food safety noncompliances—and which produced the deli meat products linked to a national, fatal listeriosis outbreak. The company is also discontinuing its liverwurst product, which was the vehicle of the outbreak.

Additionally, Boar's Head is implementing a number of enhanced food safety and quality measures, including the appointment of a new Chief Food Safety and Quality Assurance Officer (CFSO), and establishing a new Boar’s Head Food Safety Council.

Recruitment for the new CFSO is underway. Experts have already been appointed to the Boar’s Head Food Safety Council, comprising some of whom have been assisting with the current investigation at the Jarratt facility. The council, which may evolve over time and as needed, will assist the company’s adoption and implementation of enhanced quality assurance programs, and will serve as advisors to the new CFSO and to the company as a whole. The founding council members are:

David Acheson, M.D., F.R.C.P., President and Chief Executive Officer of The Acheson Group
Mindy Brashears, Ph.D., former U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Food Safety, and current Professor of Food Safety and Public Health and Director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech University
Martin Wiedmann, D.M.V., Ph.D., Cornell University Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety and Co-Director of the New York State Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence
Frank Yiannas, M.P.H., former Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Boar’s Head is also creating an enhanced, companywide quality assurance program to address food safety standards and strengthen food safety culture throughout the supply chain. To be led by the CFSO, the program will be developed in partnership with members of the Food Safety Council and other leading food safety experts in the field.

“Our investigation has identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt facility and was used only for liverwurst. With this discovery, we have decided to permanently discontinue liverwurst,” stated Boar’s Head. “Given the seriousness of the outbreak, and the fact that it originated at Jarratt, we have made the difficult decision to indefinitely close this location.”

Boar’s Head also shared the July 31, 2024 USDA Notice of Suspension received by its Jarratt facility, which can be read here.

Update, October 4, 2024: Frank Yiannas was selected as interim CFSO and Chair of the Boar's Head Food Safety Advisory Council.

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Bailee Henderson is the Director of Content Strategy for Food Safety Magazine. In the day-to-day, she covers industry-relevant current events, regulatory affairs, and scientific developments. She also produces the Food Safety Five Newsreel, edits the twice-weekly Food Safety Digest newsletter, and manages the brand's social media channels. Notably, Bailee's coverage for Food Safety Magazine has been featured in national televised news segments including CBS Sunday Morning and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. She can be reached at hendersonb@bnpmedia.com.