Employees speak out after Virginia Boar’s Head plant announces shutdown

GREENSVILLE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Boar’s Head deli meat plant in Jarratt, Virginia has been shut down indefinitely after being linked to a deadly listeria outbreak. Now, hundreds of employees are without a job.

“People were crying,” said Boar’s Head IT specialist Artie Moorman. “It’s just very tough to go through something like this.”

The listeria outbreak caused the first recall at the end of July, rolling back more than seven million pounds of product, and the plant has not been operational since.

“It’s been a pretty crazy seven weeks,” Moorman said. “But I was really impressed with the response, that’s really what made probably me and many others not abandon ship.”

Moorman said the company implemented extensive training after the recall, along with construction in the building.

Nine people have died with dozens others hospitalized due to the outbreak. The company said in a statement it will permanently discontinue liverwurst.

Moorman said many of his coworkers had dedicated decades of their life to working at Boar’s Head, adding that some workers have been offered transfers to a Boar’s Head facility in Petersburg.

“In the short amount of time I was there, I was impacted a lot by just how everyone really is like a family there,” Moorman said. “People were getting benefits, packages, severance pay, but I don’t think it’s worth it anywhere near enough losing a job you’ve worked your whole life.”

In an effort to prevent future outbreaks, Boar’s Head has announced plans to hire a new Chief Food Safety Officer and establish a Food Safety Council composed of experts in the field.

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