11mo ago

Blood puddles, mold, tainted meat, bugs: Boar’s Head inspections are horrifying

On July 17, the inspector found "green algal growth" in a puddle of standing water in a raw holding cooler. And on July 27, an inspector noted clear liquid leaking out from a square patch on the ceiling. Behind the patch, there were two other patches that were also leaking. An employee came and wiped the liquid away with a sponge, but it returned within 10 seconds. The employee wiped it again, and the liquid again returned within 10 seconds. Meanwhile, a ceiling fan mounted close by was blowing the leaking liquid onto uncovered hams in a hallway outside the room.

A picture of hell.

167 comments

Every single major retailer with a deli section near me has switched to boar's head within the last 2-3 years... guess they undercut everyone else on bids and got good contracts by violating health and safety laws, the American capitalist way!
- And yet boar's head is consistently more expensive than anything else.
  
  Stores love the markup
  
  Nobody said the cost savings was gonna get passed to the consumer. What are ya, a commie?
- In Nov 2020, the person that ran things for years died, and control passed to other family members that immediately sued each other.
  I’m any case, seems greed likely started to drive everything, they pushed expansion over safety, and wound up killing people.
  
  seems greed likely started to drive everything, they pushed expansion over safety, and wound up killing people.
  Thank god this is an isolated incident in corporate America. /s
  
  In
  any case, seems greed likely started to drive everything, they pushed expansion over safety, and wound up killing people.
  Chiquita, Nestle, and Boeing have entered the chat.
  
  a story as old as time.... one person spends their life building an empire, their spoiled brat children immediately tear it down screaming
  
  new season of succession fell off
- 40 years ago they were one of the top brands for quality
  
  I feel you could say this about every american company that has been around for 40 plus years. Enshittification is a real bitch
  
  I remember that! They were more a specialty brand that you'd find in more upscale grocery stores. Now they're just boring, apparently disgusting, processed meat like every other brand.
- Having managed a supermarket for about 6 years, I can tell you it's because of the service, consistent quality and variety of choices. Their service model is similar to many of the larger bread vendors in that they sell via consignment. So you only buy what you open to sell, and they take back anything that expires or looks dodgy. Their sales reps maintain your inventory and place your orders, really saving you alot of time and reducing your risk.
- Im glad the German deli and regional super market go through more local organizations. Im also glad we can maintain damned near every type of livestock as well.
- The Jungle 2: Salmonella Boogaloo
  
  Listeria Hysteria
- My favorite part of that book was when it revealed that workers would go missing from time to time and later be found at the bottom of a lard rendering vat. Ha ha!
  
  I don't know if I can say I have a "favorite" part of the book. The whole thing was just horrifying. I think I spent the entire time reading it with my mouth wide open.
  And how little has changed...
- Man that book freaks me out but I guess that's a good thing
- After the book came out congress was shockingly fast to pass new laws. It turns out the plant profiled in the book had the contract for the congressional cafeteria. That's how you get political change.
Y’all would be fucking horrified by the state of food manufacturing if you knew.
I used to work at a food processing and distribution company, in the document processing department.. we weren’t strictly supposed to read the audits, especially the internal ones, but we did, to make sure they were complete and compliant, which was our job. Also our job was intensely boring and we needed something to gossip about.
The number of our distributors (first level manufacturing) who got C or D grades on their inspections.. fucking gross. I reported a few of them, but the company did not care.
Before that I worked at a chicken hatchery. The cultures I cultured -doing an audit just like those I read later in life- were sooooo gross and problematic. But I was instructed to cover it up because, and this is important context, it was all self report after the initial inspection. I was doing this at 16, and was likely significantly more thorough than any veteran employee would have been. (Absolutely not why I was chosen; they chose me due to incredibly mild nepotism, as my manager was my step-dad, and he knew science stuff was up my alley.. plus I was a filler worker, being under 18.)
I really hope things have improved, but somehow I doubt that the past 20 years has made a positive impact from my audit experience. (The document processing was less than 10 years ago, supporting my belief nothing has changed for the better.)
- In case you still have any actionable info or if someone else finds themselves in a similar situation then please read through here and consider documenting and reporting what you observe. https://usdaoig.oversight.gov/
- "Thank god for the hatchery" - Norm
  
  Not where I expected that to go, but then.. I never know where to expect comedians to go.. I think that’s the point.
  Anyway, keeping to the subject, when I worked at the hatchery there was this guy.. he was the guy who killed all the male babies, and that was his whole job.. he was fucking weird, in a bad way, and we all gave him tons of space. It didn’t bother him at all to kill thousands of birds in a single day as just his normal job. That’s all.
A picture of hell but a libertarian heaven.
- When people live, it's expensive; when they die, it's cheap.
  
  People are a renewable resource.
- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
It's a meat brand.
For those just as confused as I, it's a meat brand.
They're not talking about an actual boar.
- And it's 'supposed' to be a quality brand too.
- Oh man, the look on your face must have been something
  
  I mean, they are producing several forms of pig, which if you let out will be a boar not long after. They don't stay domesticated very well apparently.
The USDA recorded 69 violations in a year.
Nice
Well shit, thought this was the premium stuff. Fool me can't get fooled again.
- Makes you wonder what the non-premium stuff is like
  
  It's the same thing except instead of delicious properly prepared lean meat in a disgusting warehouse with awful cleanliness practices, it's crappily prepared and spiced meat in a clean warehouse that's not trying to kill you.
  
  Eventually you just do it yourself.
Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” comes to mind.
- It's worth a read for more than just that.
  Our guy wrote a book about the working class and immigrants being taken advantage of, and how they need to stand up for worker's rights and unions. And the American public focused on their food being gross.
  
  As Upton himself said: "I aimed for America's heart, but I hit it in its stomach."
  
  Lithuanians practically built Northern Illinois during that era, not just Chicago, but Belvidere and Rockford too.
Curious, does anyone know if the Jarratt, VA Boar's Head facility mentioned in the article employees prison labor from the Greensville Correctional Center just down the street?
- What do you think
Sooo... a typical slaughterhouse, then. Sounds like someone didn't prep for the scheduled visit.
you don't want to see what the meat industry is like in southeast asia
- It's probably just as bad
  
  it's worse
it's The Jungle all over again
I wonder how much of the state of the place upon that inspection was DUE to:
The plant has been shut down since late July
Like, did they say "we're shutting down" and everyone just fucked off and left the place in a state?
Or was it just that bad ALL the time?
- They mentioned in the article that it was inspected June 10th.
Its so much easier and safe to make your own lunch meats that I don't get the appeal of Deli meats. My Roast Beef has 3 ingredients. The meat itself along with salt and pepper and I only buy it when under $5 a pound. Recipe is stupid easy. 375°F 20 minutes a pound. Bake uncovered. Once out of the oven, cover it for 20 minutes, then let it cool off before putting it in the fridge overnight where it will tighten back up. Turkey breast is self explained because the only ingredient is turkey breast that you bake yourself. Skip all the bologna, salami, pepperoni, olive loaf, etc. and anything with nitrates. all of your own deli meat can be cooked, then froze again to use later when meat isn't on sale.
- Most things are pretty easy. One problem is having the time to do literally everything yourself. The other is deciding whether that time spent doing optional tasks is worth the time not spent doing more meaningful activities.
  
  And wanting to eat the same thing for a week+ because making it in quantities that's worth the time means that's taking a lot of fridge / freezer space
  
  Also, there’s a not-insignificant number of people who have a fridge (at least a tiny one) but no oven.
  
  Should i eat garbage today and do something worthwhile. Decisions decisions
- Turkey breast is self explained because the only ingredient is turkey breast that you bake yourself.
  eh you've gotta at least dry brine it.
- Its so much easier and safe to make your own lunch meats that I don’t get the appeal of Deli meats.
  It isn't easier to make your own lunch meat than go 'give me a pound of x' at the counter, pay, and leave.
  To add a bit to what you're saying though, I've replaced deli meats with just regular cooked meat myself. I don't actually care that it's not exactly the same as a cold cut sandwich because it's food and it usually tastes about the same if not better if you put other toppings on your sandwich.
  I just grill up some chicken breast and use it in salads, sandwiches, even as pizza topping. Pretty good.
- Sous vide FTW
- I want to make my own turkey deli meat but literally no store around me sells turkey breast. Closest I can find is ground turkey. How do you do it?
  Closest thing I can get is pre-brined Jenny-O tenderloins, but I'd rather brine them myself.
Man am I glad they don't sell this brand around here.
Compromise elsewhere, huh?
I knew Publix brand always tasted cleaner.
You can stop supporting this evil by going vegan :)
- no one supports this.
  
  By purchasing meat from companies like this, you absolutely are. Support your local butcher if you do consume.
- This is factual. Don't downvote facts just because you don't like them.
This is why you too should become vegan. It's tough the first week but it gets easier and eventually you just wonder why people still murder animals to consume their flesh like uneducated barbarians.
- Agree with your premise, but supply chains for all food are horrendous. Leafy greens are the food that are most likely to give someone food poisoning, although the diseases are usually animal waste-borne.
  
  aka "it's just a little shit on your dinner, what's the matter"
- For 1, humans arent herbivores
  
  No, they are omnivores, meaning that they do not require meat.
- Fuck you. I'm gonna go kill something and eat it, just because you pissed me off with this stupid dunbass comment.
Friendly reminder that meat is a choice and its a shit one.
- Ah yea, forgot fruit and veggies are immune to recalls and health & safety violations
  Oh woops how did this link get here
  
  I hate it when these poor vegetables have to suffer.
- You can live your life the way you want thanks
  
  That's nice to say, but actually your meat consumption is fucking everyone up, even people who choose to live their lives the way they like and not fuck the Planet up because they lack the willpower to resist that tasty tasty carcass at literally every meal.
  EDIT: Meaters, eating just one meal a day that includes meat would make a HUGE environmental impact. Just, try it for a week, cut down to meat for one meal daily. Breakfast or lunch or dinner. It's easy.
- Not an option for everybody https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_fructose_intolerance.
  I cant eat any fruit or many vegetables. I used to be vegetarian before I figured this out.
  
  Wow, downvoting a serious medical condition. Some people need to touch grass.
- You can't take away a raccoons garbage without it getting mad.
- Don't you have some cats to torture with a vegan diet or something?
- You must be insufferable at parties.
  
  My parties are full of coke and whores.
- Friendly reminder that nobody asked you for your opinion on others choices, and it's a shit one.
  
  Your freedom ends, where the freedom of others begins
  
  Sorry, i didn't ask for your shit opinion.
- Cannibalism is a choice and its a funny one. Ya remind me of the those profligate dipshits the Seventh Day Adventists.

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