It has been a busy time this week for Listeria in the news

Publisher’s Platform: What you need to know about the Boar’s Head Listeria Outbreak https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/08/242347/

Boar’s Head plant had dozens of violations, dubbed ‘listeria factory’ by lawyer https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/boars-head-plant-dozens-violations-dubbed-listeria-factory-lawyer

The number and breadth of the violations prompted food safety attorney Bill Marler to call the plant a “listeria factory.” 

“In the 30 years of doing food safety litigation, I have seen several hundred inspection reports.  This group of ‘non-compliance’ reports are some of the worst that I have ever seen,” Marler told FOX Business in an email. 

Additionally, the lack of resolution to these issues is “likely criminal violations under the Federal Meat Inspection Act,” he said. 

“What is described in the reports – piles of meat, water, mold and insects – is a perfect place for Listeria to grow,” he said.  “This plant was more a Listeria factory than a factory to produced food for human consumption.”

Expect more illnesses in listeria outbreak tied to Boar’s Head deli meat, food safety attorney sayshttps://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/09/01/boars-head-recall-deli-meat-listeria/75033322007/

A prominent food safety lawyer says more illnesses can be expected and Congress should investigate Boar’s Head after deli meat produced in one of the company’s plants was linked to an ongoing multistate listeria outbreak.

“This is the worst set of inspection reports I have ever seen,” Marler told USA TODAY.

Congress should investigate how the listeria outbreak arose and why inspectors allowed the plant conditions to exist for so long, says Marler, who is representing the family of one person who died and two others who had illnesses in the outbreak.

“It’s crazy. Not only was this plant better at producing listeria than it was at producing meat, but also, what were the inspectors doing?” he told USA TODAY.

“It’s a layup, whether you are a Republican or Democrat, to have congressional hearings on why this happened and why FSIS inspectors let this thing drag on,” Marler said.

 Fed health inspectors slammed over ‘listeria factory’ tied to deadly Boar’s Head outbreak https://nypost.com/2024/08/30/business/feds-slammed-over-listeria-factory-linked-to-deadly-boars-head-oubreak/

Food safety experts slammed government health inspectors for letting a “listeria factory” fester despite dozens of disturbing violations before the deadly outbreak was linked to tainted Boar’s Head deli meats.

The company’s plant in Jarratt, Va., was found to have bugs, pools of blood on the floor and growing mold over the past year, according to records released by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

“These inspection reports show that this was a listeria factory as much as it was a meat factory,” food safety attorney Bill Marler told The Post.

“The government needs to answer the question of what were you doing? Didn’t this generate enough questions given the size of this plant.”

Boar’s Head plant linked to deadly outbreak broke food safety rules dozens of times, records show https://apnews.com/article/boars-head-listeria-recall-fcde06b66dca38d53361c92495a7cfed?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share

Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who has sued companies over food poisoning outbreaks, said the conditions described in the inspections reports were the worst he’s seen in three decades.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.

Source: https://www.marlerblog.com/case-news/it-has-been-a-busy-time-this-week-for-listeria-in-the-news/