Boar’s Head faces legal scrutiny over deadly Listeria outbreak

Boar’s Head, the deli meat company at the center of a deadly listeria food poisoning outbreak, is under scrutiny by law enforcement officials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture revealed in response to government records requests.

Officials with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service declined to share documents about the agency’s inspections and enforcement at the Boar’s Head plant in Jarratt, Va., plus inspection reports from the company’s eight other U.S. plants.

The records — which FSIS acknowledged included dozens of pages of documentation — were withheld because they were compiled “for law enforcement purposes, which include both civil and criminal statutes,” according to a letter sent Friday in response to the requests by the Freedom of Information Law. by The Associated Press. Releasing the records could “interfere” with and “hinder” the government’s investigation, the letter said.

The AP requested records on the listeria outbreak that, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has killed 10 people and sickened at least 50 in 19 states since May. Listeria bacteria were initially detected in samples of Boar’s Head liverwurst and were later identified with human illnesses.

Previously released records revealed problems including mold, insects, dripping water and meat and grease residue on walls, floors and equipment dating back at least two years. Boar’s Head earlier recalled more than 7 million pounds of deli meat distributed to stores nationwide. This month, the Sarasota, Fla.-based company said it had closed its Virginia plant and stopped making liverwurst for good.

Boar’s Head is facing several lawsuits filed by victims and their families.

FSIS officials did not respond to AP emails seeking additional comment on the records. Justice Department officials declined to comment on potential legal action against Boar’s Head.

This week, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Rosa DeLauro asked the Departments of Agriculture and Justice to “work closely” to determine whether to bring criminal charges against Boar’s Head in connection with the crisis. In response, USDA’s internal investigators are reviewing the agency’s work and will decide by the end of the year whether to open an investigation, according to Blumenthal’s office.

Previous outbreaks of food poisoning have resulted in criminal and civil penalties.

In 2020, Chipotle agreed to pay a record $25 million to settle criminal charges over contaminated food that sickened more than 1,100 people in outbreaks between 2015 and 2018. In 2015, former Peanut Corporation of America executive , Stewart Parnell, was sentenced to 28 years in prison after a salmonella outbreak in his company’s peanut butter killed nine people and sickened more than 700.

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