Boar’s Head expands recall to include 7 million more pounds of deli meats tied to listeria outbreak

The popular deli meat company Boar’s Head is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products made at a Virginia plant as an investigation into a deadly outbreak of listeria food poisoning continues, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Tuesday.

The new recall includes 71 products made between May 10 and July 29 under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names. It follows an earlier recall of more than 200,000 pounds of sliced deli poultry and meat. The new items include meat intended to be sliced at delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold in stores.

They include liverwurst, ham, beef salami, bologna and other products made at the firm’s Jarratt, Va., plant.

The recalls are tied to an ongoing outbreak of listeria poisoning that has killed two people and sickened nearly three dozen in 13 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all of those who fell ill have been hospitalized. Illnesses were reported between late May and mid-July.

The problem was discovered when a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. Further testing showed that the type of bacteria was the same strain causing illnesses in people.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to immediately and voluntarily expand our recall to include all items produced at the Jarratt facility,” the company said on its website. It has also halted production of ready-to-eat foods at the plant.

The meat was distributed to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama, Agriculture Department officials said.

Consumers who have the recalled products in their homes should not eat them and should discard them or return them to stores for a refund, company officials said. Health officials said refrigerators should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized to prevent contamination of other foods.

An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC.

Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches and tiredness and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. The infections are especially dangerous for people older than 65, those with weakened immune systems and during pregnancy.

Aleccia writes for the Associated Press.