
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is reviewing its sampling plan for the federal 2025 fiscal year, which runs through September 30, due to the agency’s ongoing assessment of last year’s Boar’s Head recall linked to a deadly listeriosis outbreak.
According to the plan, FSIS is analyzing a Listeria monocytogenes outbreak associated with deli meat. Upon completion of this review, FSIS may revise its sampling plan to incorporate recommendations stemming from the findings.
The recall, announced in July, involved more than 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat processed meat produced at the now indefinitely closed Boar’s Head facility in Jarratt, Virginia. The contamination was linked to at least 61 illnesses and 10 deaths across the United States.
“FSIS’ sampling resource allocation remains aligned with the Agency’s FY 2023-2026 Strategic Plan and the FY 2025 Annual Plan,” the agency noted. “FSIS will continue to leverage technological and sampling advances to detect microbiological contaminants and chemical residues, thereby protecting the food supply.”
FSIS also emphasized that the actual number of samples collected, as well as tests conducted and analyzed, may differ from those outlined in the planning document.