More than six months after a deadly Listeria outbreak was traced to Boar’s Head deli meat, the company has hired a chief food safety officer. Natalie Dyenson will begin work for the family owned, billion dollar company on May 12, according to a statement from company officials. The hiring comes in response to a 2024 outbreak that sickened 59 people across 19 states, killing 10.
All of the patients required hospitalization because of the severity of their illnesses. Food and Drug Administration investigators found the outbreak strain of Listeria in unopened packages of Boar’s Head deli meat. In July 2024 Boar’s Head recalled more than 7.
2 million pounds of deli meats in relation to the Listeria outbreak. The company closed its Jarrett, VA, production plant implicated in the outbreak and permanently discontinued production of liverwurst nationwide. The company is owned by the Brunckhorst and Bischoff families and is based in Sarasota, FL.
Documents uncovered by investigators with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service showed food safety problems dating back at least two years. The USDA did not shut down the plant after those problems were found. The records — which FSIS acknowledged include dozens of pages of documentation — were withheld because they were compiled “for a law enforcement purpose, which includes both civil and criminal statutes,” according to a letter sent Sept.
27, 2024, in response to Freedom of Information Act requests submitted by The .