A U.S. District Court has entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against Rizo Lopez Foods, a company that produced queso fresco and cotija cheese products linked to a decade-long listeriosis outbreak, requiring the firm to stop producing and selling certain products until FDA can confirm its compliance with federal food safety regulations.
Boar’s Head has appointed Frank Yiannas, former FDA Deputy Commissioner of Food Policy and Response, as its interim Chief Food Safety and Quality Assurance Officer (CFSO) and Chair of its Food Safety Advisory Council. Both the CFSO role and advisory council are new additions to Boar’s Head’s structure, established in response to the fatal listeriosis outbreak of 2024.
Members of Congress have written a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking the agency to answer questions about its inspection actions leading up to the fatal Boar’s Head listeriosis outbreak, and about its authorities and processes for preventing such events.
In response to a FOIA petition submitted to USDA by the Associated Press, the agency chose to withhold the requested Boar’s Head inspection and enforcement reports on the grounds that they were being compiled for law enforcement purposes related to the recent listeriosis outbreak.
Following the deadly listeriosis outbreak tied to its product, Boar’s Head announced that it is indefinitely closing the facility and is discontinuing the liverwurst responsible, and has established a council of industry-leading experts to enhance the company’s food safety and quality programs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have granted “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) status to INNEO, a food processing aid that uses antimicrobial peptides to eliminate Listeria monocytogenes in food.
A foodborne listeriosis outbreak linked to Boar’s Head ready-to-eat (RTE) deli products has sickened 34 people across 13 states, resulting in two deaths. A recall is in effect.
A study has identified significant deficiencies in existing quantitative risk assessment models for Listeria monocytogenes on produce, such as failure to consider important contamination factors in primary production, among other gaps.
To investigate the potential impact of more widespread adoption of food irradiation, CDC analyzed a decade (2009–2020) of U.S. foodborne illness outbreak data for four significant foodborne pathogens, and found 155 outbreaks linked to irradiation-eligible foods that had not been irradiated.
The European Commission has proposed amendments to EU regulations regarding allowable levels of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods to apply to additional food business operators along the supply chain.
