An ongoing investigation is preventing several news outlets from obtaining records regarding Boar’s Head facilities across the country, according to multiple reports.
Media outlets filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for inspection records and other documents concerning several Boar’s Head facilities. The company has been linked to a Listeria outbreak that has killed at least ten people and hospitalized nearly sixty across fifteen states.
The USDA has not yet responded to all requests, but it has indicated that the records were withheld because they were compiled “for a law enforcement purpose, which includes both civil and criminal statutes.” Releasing the records could “interfere with” and “hinder” the government’s ongoing investigation, according to a letter from the department.
Nearly 400 pages of documents were withheld by the USDA, with officials stating that the premature release of the information could interfere with enforcement proceedings and compromise the investigation.
Last week, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro, both Connecticut Democrats, wrote a letter to the USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice, urging authorities to “hold Boar’s Head Provisions Company, Inc. accountable” for the outbreak and “take immediate action to ensure that the failures responsible for this tragedy are not repeated.”
A former sanitation manager at the Boar’s Head facility implicated in the Listeria outbreak stated in an interview that plant management resisted his attempts to implement more rigorous cleaning protocols, raising concerns over facility practices.
