Boar’s Head Provision Co is shutting down the Jarratt, Virginia, plant that was linked to an outbreak of listeria infection resulting in 9 fatalities and 57 hospitalizations, displacing 500 workers.
“Given the severity of the outbreak originating in Jarratt, we have made the tough decision to indefinitely close this location, which has been non-operational since late July 2024,” Boar’s Head stated.
“However, considering the circumstances, we believe a plant closure is the most appropriate course of action,” the company added.
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The closure affects approximately 500 union workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 union, according to Jonathan Williams, the union’s communications director. They are being offered transfers to other Boar’s Head facilities or negotiated severance packages. Additional maintenance and sanitation workers, also represented by the union, will remain as the plant shuts down, with the same options available upon completion of their tasks.
Above is an aerial view of the Boar’s Head processing plant in Jarratt that was tied to a deadly food poisoning outbreak.
The company halted all operations at Jarratt in late July following the discovery of listeria in Boar’s Head liverwurst bought at a Baltimore supermarket. This led to the recall of the liverwurst and nine other products from the same line. The recall was later expanded to all Jarratt products on July 29.
Health officials advise consumers and retailers to discard any recalled items purchased before July 31.
Boar’s Head determined that the contamination’s root cause was a specific production process unique to the Jarratt facility and used exclusively for liverwurst.
“With this finding, we have chosen to permanently discontinue liverwurst,” the company stated.
“In light of the inspection records and noncompliance reports at the Jarratt plant, we take full responsibility,” the company remarked.
Many of the products recalled by Boar’s Head are meats meant to be sliced at grocery store deli counters, though some prepackaged meats are included in the recall.
State inspections
Virginia state inspectors discovered three recent violations of food safety regulations at the cook tank where Boar’s Head
