Six new deaths are now linked to a multistate listeria outbreak traced to Boar’s Head deli meat, as new records released by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) show the agency found nearly 70 instances of “noncompliances” at the company’s plant in Virginia over the past year.
The six new fatal cases of Listeria monocytogenes infections, or listeriosis, include one person in New York, Florida, Tennessee and New Mexico, as well as two people in South Carolina, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement Wednesday.
That brings the total of reported listeria-linked cases this summer to 57 — the largest listeriosis outbreak since 2011, when 33 people died from eating contaminated cantaloupes.
“Everyone should check their homes for any remaining recalled Boar’s Head products since they can have long a shelf-life,” according to the latest CDC Food Safety Alert.
The announcement comes as new documents released by FSIS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for the safety of meats, poultry and eggs, found 69 violations at the company’s plant in Jarratt, Virginia.
In the 44-page report, obtained by CBS News through a Freedom of Information Act request, inspectors write about finding substances that “appeared to be black mold and mildew” in an area of the plant and seeing “small flying gnat-like insects were observed crawling on the walls and flying around [one] room,” as well as seven ladybugs, one beetle-like and one cockroach-like insect.
Health inspectors “physically” showed the violations to Boar’s Head managers, who were also notified in writing, according to the report.
So far, the recent listeria outbreak, prompted after a sample of Boar’s Head liverwurst from a Maryland store tested positive for the bacteria, has led to a total of 57 cases reported in 18 states, the CDC said.
It also led to the recall of more than 7 million pounds of Boar’s Head meat, poultry and cheese products.
In a statement posted on its website, the Brooklyn-founded meat supplier now headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, says it “remains committed to the quality and safety of our product” and “deeply [regrets] the impact this recall has had on affected families.”
A company’s spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the reported USDA violations on Thursday.