Boar's Head processing plants nationwide are now a part of an ongoing law enforcement investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture disclosed Thursday, within the wake of a lethal outbreak blamed on among the firm's now-recalled deli meats.
At least 59 hospitalizations and 10 deaths have been linked to a listeria strain traced again to Boar's Head merchandise distributed from a now-shuttered plant the corporate ran in Virginia.
“We take very seriously matters of public health and corporate accountability, and an investigation into this matter remains underway and ongoing,” a spokesperson for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) stated in an announcement.
That Boar's Head plant in Virginia had been written up dozens of instances by inspectors over violations, CBS News first reported in August, primarily based on information obtained by way of a Freedom of Information Act request. Violations flagged on the plant by agriculture officers included mildew and bugs discovered all through the positioning.
FSIS disclosed the existence of the probe in a letter on Thursday, when it denied a CBS News request for information on Boar's Head's different plants in Michigan, Arkansas and Indiana.
Since the information are being “compiled for law enforcement purposes,” public information officers for FSIS stated releasing them “could hinder the government's ability to further control and shape the investigation.”
“Given the ongoing investigation related to this matter, FSIS is withholding 93 pages in full,” they wrote.
The disclosure comes the identical day as a letter by Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, each Connecticut Democrats, to the USDA and the Department of Justice, urging them to think about legal fees towards the corporate.
“The 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,” they wrote.
It is unclear whether or not the law enforcement probe is a legal or civil investigation. An FSIS spokesperson stated they had been restricted within the particulars they might share about an lively investigation.
A Boar's Head spokesperson declined to remark, saying the corporate doesn't touch upon authorized issues.
In addition to an investigation of “Boar's Head establishments across the country,” the FSIS assertion stated the company can also be doing a “top-to-bottom review” to search for classes discovered for public well being within the wake of the outbreak.
“We are also placing particular focus on state inspection models, including where policy changes are needed to prevent oversight gaps,” the assertion stated.
The USDA had outsourced the vast majority of its duties on the Boar's Head plant in Virginia to state inspectors, CBS News beforehand reported, by way of a decades-old agreement drawn as much as deal with federal oversight at rural services.
“Despite the closure, FSIS' investigation into factors that contributed to this outbreak, including but not limited to an in-depth look at other Boar's Head facilities, will continue in the interest of best protecting public health,” stated the spokesperson.
