Can food safety inspectors self inspect?
Between July and September 2024, a high profile listeria outbreak led to the death of 10 people and the hospitalization of 59 more. Over 7 million pounds of food were recalled due to high cross contamination risk.
Once the public had been notified, the questions began to roll in. Who was responsible for oversight and safety inspections in the Boar’s Head production facility in Jarratt, Virginia? Could this have been prevented? Why wasn't it?
To learn more about the outbreak, recall, and possible next steps, read Liverwurst, Listeria, and Liability: Food Safety at Boar’s Head on Art of Procurement or listen below.
Pallet Jack-pot
On July 31st, Boar's Head released a letter they received from the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service notifying the company that operations at the Jarratt, VA facility had been suspended. The given reason for the suspension was a pallet jack.?
Listeria was found on the pallet jack used in a room where ready-to-eat meats were processed. The room was a common area not specific to liverwurst processing, the product originally associated with the recall.
Pallet jacks were being used interchangeably between production lines, which explained why only some of the people that got sick reported eating deli-sliced liverwurst. The discovery also reinforced the idea that the safety problem was far more widespread than one meat-making process.
This discovery may have pinpointed the source of the outbreak, but it was only the first operational safety problem to be uncovered. In fact, the nature of the inspections themselves - and the actions taken in response to them - were also found to be lacking. Inspections were taking place regularly to determine if the Jarratt plant was compliant with Federal food safety regulations, but those inspections failed to prevent the outbreak and protect consumers.
Inspection Hand-off
The Boar’s Head facility in Jarratt, Virginia was inspected by the state even though the inspections (and the safety standards) were governed by Federal regulations. This type of hand-off is permitted under the Talmadge-Aiken Cooperative Inspection Program. Under this program, meat and poultry plants in the United States can be inspected by state-level inspectors.
The Federal government covers half of the cost to run the inspections, and the state is allowed to enforce federal safety codes. The states participating in the program must prove that they have food safety and consumer protection measures “at least equal to” federal standards.
There are several Federal agencies involved in this story:
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Virginia’s inspectors would have submitted an initial self-evaluation of their inspection activities and annual updates. Those evaluations would go to FSIS, but it wasn’t a complete handoff.
According to The Lange Law Firm, attorneys that specialize in food safety, ““If the FSIS review team discovers that a State has failed to develop or is not enforcing requirements,” FSIS is supposed to notify the Director of the State program. The state has 30 days to remedy their actions or their ability to perform these activities may be in jeopardy.”
This situation reminded me of the inspection failures that occurred in the lead-up to the loss of a Boeing door plug in midair. There is a long-standing practice of delegating FAA quality inspections to the manufacturers themselves. Critics say this is because of budget cuts at the FAA, and leaving manufacturers in charge of their own inspections clearly carries risk.
Inspections have to be done by an independent party and that party has to be willing to stop the line if they see systemic problems, a backstop that didn’t happen at Boar's Head.
Circular Inspection Squad
The number, severity, and persistence of problems reported at the Jarratt plant were significant. The following summary is from an article published by the National Association of Convenience Stores in September:
“The New York Times reported that two years ago, an extensive inspection was conducted and concluded that “conditions at the plant—rife with mold, rust and holes in the wall—posed an ‘imminent threat’ to food safety. That finding could have resulted in a warning letter or even a suspension of production there, but the USDA did not take strict measures and allowed the plant to stay open until this outbreak forced a suspension in production in late July.””
“Recently released federal records show that the inspectors who went into the plant after the listeria outbreak found that the company had inadequate controls to prevent bacterial contamination from spreading, no written plans for employees to safeguard against cross-contamination and found a positive result for Listeria monocytogenes on the equipment used to move ready-to-eat products, the Times wrote.”
There were 69 instances of noncompliance reported to the USDA, and although Boar’s Head says they immediately resolved each issue, problems seem to have persisted.
Thanks to Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) requests submitted independently by CBS and USA Today, we have details about the violations that did not result in a suspension of operations at the plant.
To quote Food Safety News, “The FSIS report notes that many of the observed noncompliances were addressed by recleaning and sanitizing the affected areas. However, the recurrence of these issues suggests systemic problems within the facility’s sanitation practices. The presence of mold, mildew, and meat residue in critical areas of the plant highlights the challenges the facility faces in maintaining a safe processing environment.”
At the end of the day, Boar’s Head will not be the only organization under the magnifying glass. The USDA faces scrutiny as well, because there are questions about whether inspectors handled poor conditions at the plant appropriately.
As USA Today has reported, the USDA's inspector general has opened an investigation into noncompliant conditions found at the Virginia Boar’s Head plant and why an outbreak was not prevented, given that reported violations predated the outbreak by at least 2 years.
And who is investigating the USDA’s handling of the outbreak? The USDA.
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Procurement Officer, Municipality of the District of Chester, Nova Scotia | Perpetual Optimist | Relationship Builder | Eternally Curious | Fun Seeker
4 个月This was a really interesting listen. The questions you raise apply to all industries.
President at Strategic Procurement Solutions, LLC
4 个月Very interesting...and disturbing. Thanks Kelly!
Working part time for Machinery and Equipment, a San Fransisco based used equipment dealer in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and mining industries.
4 个月Food safety inspection was borne out of the very reason that food manufacturing companies couldn't be trusted to set proper safety standards. Likewise for food inspectors. In my opinion, everybody needs somebody looking over their shoulder to ensure health and safety standards are met. When it's the case of an outbreak of disease, like with the recent cases of Boar's Head or McDonald's, it's often the public, in the form of the federal government agencies we've recently shown we loath. When you hear "Somebody should do something about XYZ", that task usually falls on us, in the form of the feds. Right now, they don't have a lot of public trust, and that's a pity, because they're our very safety wall.
Maintenance Manager
4 个月Thank you for sharing