According to federal food safety officials, the listeria food poisoning outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats has claimed the lives of three people, with the number of those sickened rising to 43. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the latest death in Virginia, with previous fatalities in New Jersey and Illinois. Nine more cases have been reported since the initial outbreak in late May.
Boar’s Head initiated a recall of 7 million pounds of deli meats on July 30 after a liverwurst sample tested positive for listeria in Maryland. Subsequent testing by New York health officials confirmed the same strain of listeria. The recall includes over 70 products produced at the company’s Virginia plant, such as liverwurst, ham, beef salami, and bologna.
Legal action has been taken against Boar’s Head, with two lawsuits filed—one in Missouri and the other as a class action suit in federal court in New York. The recalled meats, distributed nationwide and internationally, should not be consumed. Consumers are advised to either discard the products or return them to the store for a refund. It is important to thoroughly clean and sanitize refrigerators to prevent listeria contamination, as the bacteria can survive and grow in these conditions.
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The CDC reports that approximately 1,600 people suffer from listeria food poisoning each year, resulting in around 260 deaths. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, fatigue, and in severe cases, confusion and convulsions. The infection poses the highest risk to individuals over 65, those with weakened immune systems, and pregnant women. Symptoms may manifest weeks after consuming contaminated food.
By Devna Bose
