Several members of Congress sent separate letters to Boar’s Head and USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regarding “egregious sanitation problems,” and asked how lack of oversight resulted in the deaths of 10 people.
In a letter to Boar’s Head, lawmakers demanded answers regarding the company’s handling of food safety concerns to prevent future deadly outbreaks. They questioned whether the facility tested nonfood-contact surfaces for Listeria monocytogenes, how often these tests were conducted, why managerial staff failed to act sooner and how they would be held accountable for repeated noncompliance. The lawmakers also asked how the company plans to assure the public that other Boar’s Head facilities are not facing similar issues.
In a second letter to FSIS, lawmakers expressed outrage that no enforcement actions had been taken against Boar’s Head despite 69 records of noncompliances at the facility in the year leading up to the outbreak. They demanded details about the scope of the contract with Virginia for inspecting the Boar’s Head facility, questioning whether state inspectors performed all duties and how corrective actions were managed. Additionally, they requested records of USDA inspector visits to the facility, including the frequency, length and findings of those inspections.
