Following the high-profile, fatal listeriosis outbreak linked to Boar’s Head ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meats that occurred earlier in 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) has announced several new steps to strengthen the agency’s oversight of regulated food processing facilities and protect the public from Listeria monocytogenes.

FSIS was prompted to review its processes after ten people died from eating contaminated deli meats produced at a Boar’s Head facility. The release of USDA inspection reports for the facility dated as early as January 2022 revealed a history of serious, unresolved noncompliances like meat buildup and residues on surfaces and equipment, rust, mold, pools of water and dripping condensation, insects, and other hygienic failures. According to USDA, the agency was relying on Virginia state inspectional staff to oversee operations at the plant.

This egregious history of food safety breaches at the production facility of a major, national brand caused USDA to come under scrutiny by the public and Congress, resulting in the agency launching an internal investigation of how it handled Boar’s Head's unsanitary plant, which is now closed indefinitely.

Although its internal investigation is still in progress and more changes may be announced in the future, USDA-FSIS is announcing a number of improvements and initiatives that can be implemented quickly. These changes fall into three categories: enhancing its science-based approach to mitigate foodborne pathogens, with a key focus on L. monocytogenes; improving training and tools for its inspection workforce; and evolving its oversight of regulated facilities, with an emphasis on data review and state inspection agreements. Some of the changes proposed by FSIS directly relate to specific questions from Congress about the requirements of its Listeria rule, as well as the nature of inspection agreements with state agencies.

Within the next 30 days, FSIS will initiate the following changes:

Enhancing FSIS’ Listeria Rule

• Effective January 2025, FSIS will add broader Listeria species testing to all samples of RTE product, environmental samples, and food contact surface samples. FSIS laboratories currently test these samples for L. monocytogenes, but adding more species testing to the agency’s regulatory framework will help provide more information about the effectiveness of a facility’s sanitation program and can signal to FSIS if follow-up is necessary.
• FSIS will leverage the expertise of the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods (NACMCF) to inform policy changes. The agency is beginning recruitment for new committee members with Listeria expertise, who will be given the specific charge of reviewing the agency’s regulatory approach to L. monocytogenes. The committee’s input will be used to guide more long-term policy changes.

Updated Training and Tools to Help Inspectors Recognize and Respond to Systemic Food Safety Issues

• FSIS will update its instructions and training for food safety inspectors to better equip the workforce to recognize and highlight systemic problems in a standardized way. FSIS field supervisors will routinely review these instructions with inspectors to ensure full understanding and appropriate application. Inspectors will also receive supplemental L. monocytogenes control training designed to help strengthen inspectors’ understanding of the regulatory requirements in FSIS’ Listeria Rule and how to verify that establishments have designed and implemented food safety systems that comply with those requirements.
• FSIS will conduct food safety assessments at RTE meat and poultry facilities, prioritizing completion of assessments at facilities that rely exclusively on sanitation measures to control for Listeria. These reviews will provide information about plants individually and collectively, and could inform future policy or process changes to target Listeria.
• FSIS field supervisors will conduct in-person follow-up visits when systemic issues are identified during a food safety assessment. Follow-up visits by FSIS field supervisors will bolster oversight from more senior inspection staff to ensure that a facility fully addresses issues, and could inform enforcement action by FSIS. Field supervisors will work with inspectors to ensure the facility stays in compliance.

Stricter Oversight of Regulated Establishments and Stronger State Inspection Models

• FSIS inspectors will verify specific L. monocytogenes risk factors at RTE facilities weekly. Risk factors include changes in physical plant modifications, such as new construction; indicators of sanitation problems, such as condensation, roof leaks, damaged equipment, or cracked floors; and Listeria species or L. monocytogenes-positive test results from company testing. FSIS district offices, agency field supervisors, and inspectors will review, analyze, and consider the weekly data from each facility to determine if there are systemic issues that warrant further action, such as a food safety assessment, intensified sampling, or enforcement steps.
• FSIS will clarify state and federal requirements for consistent oversight of Talmadge-Aiken (TA) programs (i.e., federal-state cooperative inspection programs) through updated agreements and instructions. Specifically, FSIS will set specific requirements, including clear expectations for oversight, enforcing federal food safety laws, comprehensive federal training for TA inspectors, and enhanced regular coordination with FSIS. The agency will also designate field and headquarter positions assigned to TA oversight, and will clarify training requirements and criteria to start, maintain, and terminate state inspection coverage of an establishment.
• FSIS will revise establishment review alert triggers. One significant criterion used to guide a district office’s decision to conduct a public health risk evaluation (PHRE), which typically precedes a food safety assessment, is a monthly list of facilities with higher rates of noncompliance related to public health that is generated using an algorithm. Using additional data from the new weekly verification of L. monocytogenes risk factors, FSIS intends to update its algorithm and triggers to better identify high-risk facilities.

USDA-FSIS also published several directives and notices to agency personnel related to the aforementioned changes on the same day the changes were announced. Those directives and notices are:

• Public Health Information System Physical Plant Modification Profile Questionnaire and Ready-To-Eat Questionnaire Task
• FSIS RTE Inspection Fundamentals Training
• Talmadge-Aiken Cooperative Inspection
• Food Safety Assessment Methodology, Revision 6.

FSIS is continuing to identify other steps that would improve control of L. monocytogenes, dependent on funding availability. The agency stresses that additional resources are necessary for USDA to continue to protect the food safety of regulated products.