A death in New York has been linked with a listeria outbreak connected to recalled Boar\u2019s Head deli meat, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. A total of 59 people have been hospitalized with the outbreak strain of bacteria in 19 states, and 10 of them have died. <\/p>\n
However, the actual number of cases is most likely higher because it can take up to 10 weeks for symptoms of listeria infection to begin, the agency noted. Some people who get ill recover without being tested for listeria and it usually takes weeks to link an illness with an outbreak. <\/p>\n
In a letter sent Thursday to the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Rosa DeLauro asked the agencies to work together to determine whether Boar\u2019s Head should face criminal charges related to the outbreak. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unacceptable that Boar\u2019s Head did not take sufficient action to rectify these conditions that resulted in repeated violations for similar issues,\u201d the Connecticut Democrats wrote in their letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Attorney General Merrick Garland. \u201cThe time for action is long overdue, and we urge your agencies to work together to seek immediate justice for impacted consumers and to prevent this from happening again.\u201d <\/p>\n
Boar\u2019s Head announced this month it would discontinue sales of liverwurst after an investigation found that its production process was the root of the listeria contamination. The company said it is closing the Virginia plant that produced meat tied to the outbreak and implementing a companywide food safety program. <\/p>\n
USDA Food Safety Inspection Service reports from the facility described dozens of violations, including insects, mold, \u201cblood in puddles on the floor\u201d and a \u201crancid smell in the cooler\u201d at various points since 2022. Another report from 2022 cited \u201cmajor deficiencies\u201d with the plant\u2019s physical conditions \u2014 rusty equipment, peeling and flaking paint, loose caulk, holes in walls, product residue on surfaces and dripping condensation \u2014 that posed an \u201cimminent threat.\u201d The reports said plant management was notified and directed to take corrective action. <\/p>\n
The plant in Jarratt, Virginia, has not been operational since July, when the liverwurst recall was first announced and then expanded to include all products made at the facility. <\/p>\n
Blumenthal and DeLauro wrote that USDA \u201cfailed to uphold its congressional mandate\u201d by allowing Boar\u2019s Head production to continue in \u201chorrific conditions\u201d at the Virginia plant. In Thursday\u2019s letter, they urged the agency to conduct inspections at other Boar\u2019s Head facilities, increase testing for listeria in all processing plants and consider measures such as automatic triggers for escalated penalties for facilities with \u201ca pattern of non-compliance.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain steadfast in our commitment to our customers and to the safety and quality of our products,\u201d Boar\u2019s Head said in its letter. \u201cWe are determined to learn from this experience and emerge stronger.\u201d <\/p>\n
The CDC continues to advise consumers to check their kitchens for recalled products, which have \u201cEST. 12612\u201d or \u201cP-12612\u201d inside the USDA mark of inspection on labels and have sell-by dates into October 2024. <\/p>\n
Listeria bacteria causes listeriosis, the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the United States. Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches and fatigue. An infection can also cause a stiff neck, a headache, confusion or seizures. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A death in New York has been linked with a listeria outbreak connected to recalled Boar\u2019s Head deli meat, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. A total of 59 people have been hospitalized with the outbreak strain of bacteria in 19 states, and 10 of them have died. However, the actual …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":492,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/retirednurseblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}