After announcing its intent to appoint a new Chief Food Safety and Quality Assurance Officer (CFSO) and establish an advisory food safety council in response to the fatal listeriosis outbreak caused by its products, Boar’s Head has chosen Frank Yiannas, M.P.H., former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response, as interim CFSO, effective immediately. In this role, Mr. Yiannas will help ensure food safety and quality standards are met across the company, and will oversee the nationwide search for a permanent CFSO to succeed him.
Mr. Yiannas was also selected as Chair of the Boar’s Head Food Safety Advisory Council. As previously announced, additional founding members appointed to the council include David Acheson, M.D., F.R.C.P.; Mindy Brashears, Ph.D.; and Martin Wiedmann, D.M.V., Ph.D.
Alongside the formation of the Food Safety Advisory Council and creation of the CFSO position, other actions undertaken by Boar’s Head following the ongoing listeriosis outbreak include shuttering its Jarratt, Virginia facility where the food that caused the outbreak was produced, and discontinuing its ready-to-eat (RTE) liverwurst, which was specifically implicated as the vehicle of the outbreak.
As of September 25, at least 59 cases of illness and ten fatalities have been associated with the nationwide outbreak. Since the recall was initiated in July 2024, U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) inspection reports dating back to January 2022 have come to light, showing a history of serious food safety noncompliances at the Jaratt, Virginia plant, including the presence of mold, insects, rust and chipping paint, meat residues on processing equipment, and other hazards.
Because of the history of serious food safety and sanitation noncompliance recorded at the Jarratt, Virginia facility, USDA-FSIS revealed to the Associated Press that it is pursuing law enforcement action against the company, involving both criminal and civil statutes.
Boar’s Head is not the only institution in the hot seat because of this outbreak, however; members of Congress recently wrote a letter to USDA-FSIS in which the agency was asked to answer questions about its inspection actions leading up to the fatal Boar’s Head listeriosis outbreak, and about its authorities and processes for preventing such events. The letter asked, among other questions, how often USDA inspectors visited the Jarratt, Virginia plant (as opposed to Virginia state inspectors, who were contracted to conduct regular onsite inspections on behalf of USDA-FSIS), and whether the agency has evidence its Listeria Rule is effective in controlling L. monocytogenes, or whether the rule requires amendment.
