If you go to the grocery store, making a stop at the deli counter is a must. From meats to cheeses, and even scoops of cold salads, these foods have become mainstays for quick no-fuss lunches and mid-meal nibbles. So when one of the most prominent brands in the deli industry is behind ten food-borne illness deaths, a huge recall took place.
It’s only been a short span of time, but that’s all it takes for food-borne illness to make its mark. Over the course of several months, ten people have died, and fifty-nine others have been hospitalized from listeria in nineteen states. While the most recent death was in New York, the cases of illnesses span back from May all the way to August of this year, showing that the outbreak is not a small batch of products.
What makes listeria dangerous is that it doesn’t die in refrigerated and frozen temperatures. People over the age of sixty-five, people who are immunocompromised, or women who are pregnant are at a greater risk of getting severe complications. Listeria is also hard to pinpoint because symptoms don’t always appear immediately, and can take several days or weeks after the contaminated food has been consumed.
The source of the listeria outbreak traces back to liverwurst produced by a Boar’s Head plant in Jarratt, Virginia. Over the year, government inspection revealed sixty-nine instances of noncompliance of the plant. In the report done by the USDA, there were instances of mold, insects, and liquid dripping from the ceiling, alongside a huge buildup of food and fat residue covering the walls, equipment, floors, and work surfaces. Some pools of water were so big that there was a coating of green algae-like gunk covering the surface.
Boar’s Head said it closed that Virginia plant in July and made an announcement of its closure again in September. Since the plant’s closure, the company has recalled over seven million pounds of deli meat. While the outbreak was traced back to listeria, other products made in the facility were recalled as well. Deli meats including ham, bologna, frankfurters, sausages, and everything from their Old Country line have been pulled from deli counters across the country.
Make sure to check which brand of deli meat you have purchased and discard any potentially contaminated food. Food-borne illness harboring deli products have a sell-by date ranging from July 29th through October 17th. To keep up to date with the recent list by viewing the recalled product list here.