Pools of blood on the floor, pieces of old meat on the equipment, mold on the walls — all of these and more were reported in the news of Boar’s Head Provision Co.'s 7 million pound recall of product produced in its Jarratt, Va., plant. Listeria was the recall culprit. How could this be?

Listeria infections cause about 1,600 illnesses each year in the U.S. and about 260 people die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nine deaths and 57 hospitalizations occurred because of listeria-contaminated Boar’s Head Braunschweiger produced at the Jarratt plant. A lawyer even called the plant a “listeria factory.” Great! Now, along with “factory farming” we have another pejorative aphorism to deal with.

Those Boar’s Head-emblazoned trucks you see plying our nation’s byways delivering Boar’s Head deli products throughout the land have now become advertising reminders for consumers not to buy Boar’s Head meats. When consumers peruse the deli counter and see the Boar’s Head brand, they will be reminded of the tragic incident.

What is needed now? Clear, concise and transparent communications by both Boar’s Head and the USDA on the cause and corrective steps to be taken to avert a similar future tragedy. This is no time for obfuscation on either’s parts.

What has been done after past similar listeria incidents? Maple Leaf Foods listeria meat product outbreak in 2008 caused 23 deaths. Maple Leaf brought in specialists to completely disinfect the offending plant and went on about their business. Is this the route Boar’s Head should take? No, they must do more.

The question to be answered is, “What are we going to do NOW?” I say “we” because while Boar’s Head will be defendants in litigation ad nauseum, all of us in the meat and poultry industry bear some responsibility. Why, you ask? Because it is incumbent on all of us to assure the consuming public that they can eat our meat and poultry products without fear of illness or death.

My good friend, Dr. Dave Theno, God rest his soul, took the attitude and steps to cure Jack in the Box’s E. coli O157:H7 problem when, in 1993, four little girls in Seattle became ill and died from eating Jack in the Box hamburgers. Dr. Theno solved this by taking what then seemed like draconian steps. At Dave’s insistence, Jack in the Box ground beef suppliers developed meat safety production protocols and inspection programs to eliminate E. Coli-contaminated meat from ever again entering the Jack in the Box system.

And, to make sure, Dr. Theno developed an in-house Jack in the Box restaurant program of cooking hamburgers to an internal temperature that was a lethal kill step for E. Coli.

Dave later told me that Jack in the Box had no choice but to assure that such an incident would never occur again, and he had to do whatever it took to bring that to fruition.

There is no excuse for a meat plant like the Boar’s Head Jarratt, Va., one to be in such poor shape, allowing contaminated product to be shipped all while under USDA inspection.

According to USDA inspection reports, the Jarratt plant has been poorly managed for quite a while, ignoring past instances of documented contamination. Its meat safety protocol violations have become so egregious that Boar’s Head has no choice but to tear down the plant and replace it with a state of the art, safe production facility.

Along with this action, Boar’s Head must also guarantee interim relief for the employees displaced during the demolition of the old plant, construction of the new one and their future employment.

Why should Boar’s Head take such a drastic and expensive step of complete plant replacement? Because with a new plant’s safety protocols, consumer confidence will be reestablished. Simply telling consumers not to worry because the old plant has been thoroughly cleaned would pale in comparison to a safety commitment with a completely new plant.

It would also send a leadership message to the rest of the meat and poultry industry that you must do whatever it takes to make your plants’ production vessels safe to ensure your consumers only get nutritious products.

Anything less is unacceptable.

Boar's Head: Tear Down This Plant!

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