Democratic lawmakers are questioning whether a Boar's Head deli meat plant at the center of last year's deadly listeria outbreak will be fit to reopen.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, of Connecticut, sent a letter Monday asking company officials to appear before the Congressional Food Safety Caucus to discuss “a repeated pattern of food safety negligence that jeopardized Americans' public health.”
The letter, signed by nine other Democrats, cited Associated Press reporting that described sanitation problems in recent months at Boar’s Head plants in three states. It requests a response by Sept. 26.
Boar's Head officials have said they planned to reopen their plant in Jarratt, Virginia, in the coming months. The plant was shuttered after listeria-tainted liverwurst killed 10 people, sickened dozens and forced a recall of more than 7 million pounds of deli products. Federal officials said systemic problems at the plant caused the outbreak.
Officials with the U.S. Agriculture Department lifted the plant's suspension in July and said that federal inspectors would assume direct oversight of operations.
Documents obtained by the AP showed problems at plants in Arkansas, Indiana and a different site in Virginia. Inspectors found instances of meat and fat residue left on equipment and walls, drains blocked with meat products, beaded condensation on ceilings and floors, overflowing trash cans and staff who failed to follow required hygiene practices.
“It is appalling that Boar's Head is encountering similar issues at other facilities of theirs,” the letter said. “This information leaves us less than confident that the facility in Jarratt, Virginia, is prepared to reopen safely.”
Boar's Head officials said they were reviewing the letter.
“In our more than 120-year history, what happened at our Jarratt facility was the first time that such an event occurred,” the company said in a statement. “We moved quickly, aggressively and decisively in close collaboration with regulators and leading food safety experts to identify the root cause of the problem and implement enhancements to our food manufacturing nationwide to prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
Boar's Head officials have declined to comment on the problems identified in the recent inspection reports obtained by the AP. They said that the company has boosted food safety practices in Jarratt and other sites aimed at reducing or eliminating listeria in finished products.
Once it reopens, the Jarratt plant will face at least 90 days of heightened monitoring and inspections by federal Food Safety and Inspection Service officials. Previously, inspections were conducted by state officials who operated on behalf of the agency.
The change aims to “ensure the establishment consistently and effectively implements its corrected food safety plans,” USDA officials said in a statement. It calls for stricter enforcement if lapses occur.
In the years before the outbreak, state inspectors documented numerous problems at the plant, including mold, insects, liquid dripping from ceilings and meat and fat residue on walls, floors and equipment, records showed. They were operating under a cooperative agreement that allows state inspectors to conduct federal inspections.
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