JARRATT, Va. - The Boar's Head deli meat plant in Jarratt, Virginia will reopen after being shut down in September over sanitation problems.
USDA officials say they have "thoroughly reviewed" the plant and lifted the forced suspension on July 18.
"The facility is in full compliance of the guidelines and protocols set for the safe handling and production of food and the serious issues that led to suspension have been fully rectified," officials with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in an email earlier this week.
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Virginia death linked to Boar's Head Listeria outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that someone has died in Virginia due to a listeria food poisoning outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meats. FOX 5's Josh Rosenthal has the story.
The backstory:
A large listeria outbreak last summer from Boar's Head deli meats led to at least nine deaths and dozens of hospitalizations.
An internal investigation at the Boar's Head plant in Virginia found that contamination of their liverwurst product was the result of a specific production process. The process only existed at the Jarratt plant and was only used for liverwurst, the company said.
The Jarratt plant hasn’t been operational since late July, when Boar’s Head recalled more than 7 million pounds of deli meats and other products after tests confirmed listeria bacteria in its products was making people sick.
Listeria infections are caused by a hardy type of bacteria that can survive and even thrive during refrigeration. An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Infections can be hard to pinpoint because symptoms may occur up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food.
The Source: This story includes information from Boar's Head and reporting from the Associated Press.