Congress asks if Boar’s Head deli meat plant tied to outbreak will be fit to reopen
Democratic legislators wonder if a wild boar meat factory at the center of the Listeria Lister -in -list of last year will be able to reopen.
Representative Rosa Delauro, of Connecticut, sent a letter on Monday asking the company officials to appear before the Congressional Food Safety Caucus to discuss “a repeated model of negligence of food security which endangered the public health of the Americans”.
The letter, signed by nine other Democrats, cited Associated Press reporting sanitation problems in recent months in Boar’s head plants in three states. He asked for an answer by September 26.
Boar officials said they planned to reopen their plant in Jarratt, Virginia in the coming months. The factory was closed after Liverwurst stained Listeria killed 10 people, made dozens of tens and forced a reminder of more than 7 million pounds of charcuterie products. Federal officials said that the factory’s systemic problems caused the epidemic.
Managers of the US Department of Agriculture raised the suspension of the factory in July and said that federal inspectors would suppose direct surveillance of operations.
The documents obtained by the AP showed problems in the factories of Arkansas, Indiana and a different site in Virginia. The inspectors found cases of meat and fat residues left on equipment and walls, drains blocked with meat products, pearl condensation on ceilings and floors, overflowing garbage cans and staff who have not followed the required hygiene practices.
“It is appalling that Boar’s head encounters similar problems in other facilities,” said the letter. “This information leaves us less than confident than the installation of jarratt, in Virginia, is ready to reopen safely.”
Boar’s Head officials said they were reviewing the letter.
“During our history over 120 years old, what happened in our jarratt installation was the first time that such an event has happened,” the company said in a statement. “We have moved quickly, aggressively and decisively in close collaboration with regulators and experts in food security to identify the deep cause of the problem and implement improvements in our manufacturing of food at the national level to prevent something like that from happening.”
Boar’s Head officials refused to comment on the problems identified in recent inspection reports obtained by the AP. They said the company stimulated food security practices in Jarratt and other sites to reduce or eliminate Listeria in finished products.
Once it will reopen, the Jarratt factory will face at least 90 days of surveillance and inspections increased by federal food security and inspection officials. Previously, inspections were carried out by state officials who operated on behalf of the agency.
The change aims to “guarantee the establishment in a coherent manner and effectively implemented its corrected food security plans”, said USDA officials in a press release. It requires stricter application in the event of failures.
In the years preceding the epidemic, state inspectors have documented many problems at the factory, including mold, insects, drops of liquid ceilings and meat and fat residues on walls, floors and equipment, showed the files. They operated under a cooperation agreement which allows state inspectors to conduct federal inspections.
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