Boar's Head Ham, Salami, Liverwurst, and Other Deli Meats Recalled Due to Risk of Listeria
Older adults, very young children, and those who are pregnant or immunocompromised should avoid all sliced deli meats for now
Update as of Sept. 13, 2024: Boar’s Head announced today that it will stop producing liverwurst, one of the company’s deli products that was found to be contaminated with listeria and linked to 57 hospitalizations and nine deaths across 18 states. The company also said it has indefinitely closed its Jarratt, Virginia, plant where liverwurst was produced.
Update as of Aug., 8, 2024: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced nine new listeria cases linked to recalled deli meats, bringing the total number of cases and hospitalizations to 43. The CDC also said that a third person had died.
Update as of July 31, 2024: Boar’s Head added to its initial recall 7 million pounds of deli meat products after the company said in a statement that its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst has been linked to the national listeria outbreak health officials have tied to deli meat. The expanded recall includes all products produced at Boar’s Head’s Jarratt, Virginia facility, where the liverwurst originated. The list of dozens of recalled products now includes not only meats sliced at the deli counter but also several packaged products sold in stores including Boar’s Head Hot Unsmoked Sausage, Cooked Bratwurst, Uncured Beef Knockwurst, Uncured Beef Frankfurters, and Uncured Cocktail Beef Frankfurters. See the full list of recalled products.
On July 26, Boar’s Head issued a recall of 207,528 pounds of liverwurst, ham, roasted bacon, bologna, and salami sold at deli counters nationwide. The recall was announced after a sample from a previously unopened package of liverwurst at a retail deli in the Baltimore area tested positive for the listeria bacteria.
Health officials are working to determine whether these products are linked to a recent listeria outbreak.
A Boar’s Head spokesperson told CR that customers should discard these products or return them to the store where they were purchased for a refund.
Find out why you should avoid eating sliced deli meats and certain Boar’s Head packaged meats.
The Ongoing Listeria Outbreak
This recall comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s announcement earlier in the week that it was tracking a listeria outbreak that so far has led to 33 hospitalizations and two deaths in 13 states.
Both the Department of Agriculture and the CDC say that the investigation is ongoing and that they have not yet named any products directly related to it. The CDC says that of the 24 people with listeriosis it has interviewed so far, 23 recalled consuming sliced deli meats.
The Risk of Listeria, Especially During Pregnancy
Listeriosis, the infection caused by listeria bacteria, affects about 1,600 people a year in the U.S., according to the CDC. For an otherwise healthy adult, listeriosis will typically resolve on its own within a few days. But for those who are pregnant, listeriosis poses a special risk: They are 10 times more likely than other adults to get a listeria infection. About 20 percent of pregnant people infected with listeria lose their baby, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
One challenge is that listeriosis symptoms—fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea—are similar to morning sickness. Someone who is pregnant might not be diagnosed as having the infection until it has spread.
If you’re pregnant and have those symptoms, along with a temperature of 100.6° F or higher, ACOG recommends that you ask your doctor for a blood test.
