July 31, 2024 – People who recently checked their refrigerators to see if they’d purchased recalled Boar’s Head meat products linked to a deadly listeria outbreak should now check again. That’s because the nationwide recall of Boar’s Head meat products has been dramatically expanded to include 7 million pounds of deli sliced and packaged meat, up from about 200,000 pounds initially flagged in a recall announced last week. One cheese item is also listed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published the full list of 71 products, which include meats intended to be sliced at deli counters plus some packaged meat and poultry items, labeled either with the Boar’s Head brand name or the name Old Country. Some of the affected products include varieties of liverwurst, ham, bologna, beef, salami, franks and sausages, Canadian style bacon, pork, and chicken, as well as some specialty items such as meat loaves studded with olives or pickles and peppers.
The “sell by” dates listed on the products range from July 29 through Oct. 17, and the products will have an establishment number printed on them of “EST. 12612” or “P-12612,” which is located inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product label.
The initial recall was prompted after Maryland health officials reported a positive test for Listeria monocytogenes in Boar’s Head's Strassburger Brand Liverwurst that was matched to the same strain involved in an outbreak that has sickened 34 people, two of whom died. At first, the recall was limited to items produced on a single day off of one manufacturing line at a Boar’s Head Jarratt, VA, facility. This expanded recall covers all products produced at the facility, Boars Head said in a notice posted to its website, calling the measures voluntary and due to “an abundance of caution.”
People who bought the products should throw them away or return them to the place of purchase, the USDA advised. They should also clean their refrigerators to prevent cross-contamination since the bacteria spread very easily.
Listeria can cause mild intestinal problems, and most people do not become seriously sick. But sometimes the bacteria spread beyond the gut and cause a severe condition called invasive listeriosis. Invasive listeriosis can involve dangerous blood or brain infections, and in pregnant people may lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection of the newborn.
People ages 65 and older, pregnant people, and those with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. One of the people sickened in this latest outbreak was pregnant and hospitalized, but the mother recovered and remained pregnant, the CDC reported.
Symptoms among pregnant people include fever, muscle aches, and tiredness. Other people may experience those symptoms, too, plus headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, or seizures.
