The U.S. Agriculture Department found dozens of violations at a Boar's Head plant in Virginia — including insects, mold and puddles of blood — that has been linked to a deadly listeria outbreak that has killed nine people , newly released records from the department show.
Agriculture Department officials logged 69 instances of noncompliance with federal regulations at the Boar's Head plant in Jarratt from Aug. 1, 2023, through Aug. 2, 2024, according to documents CBS News obtained through federal Freedom of Information Act requests.
CBS News first reported the findings. Nine people have died and 57 have been hospitalized after they ate Boar's Head products contaminated with listeria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak has been reported in 18 states, and the deaths have been in Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico, South Carolina, Illinois, New Jersey and Virginia.
Boar's Head recalled 7 million pounds of "ready-to-eat meat and poultry products" from the Jarratt plant on July 30 after genome sequencing tests in a liverwurst sample turned up positive for the strain of Listeria monocytogenes that has been linked to the multistate outbreak. That came days after an initial recall of more than 200,000 pounds of Boar's Head products. According to the documents, the Agriculture Department reported "heavy discolored meat build up" on a hydraulic pump in the plant and on the motor of an inspection line on Aug.
8, 2023, and again reported "heavy meat.