9 Worst Deli Meat Recalls of All Time

Posted in Food Safety,Our Blog on November 14, 2024

Recently deli meat has been a hot topic when it comes to food safety. We have all heard about recalls and other safety concerns but today we are taking a look at the 9 worst deli meat recalls of all time.

1-Boar’s Head is one of the most prominent deli meat producers in the country. In 2024, though, its reputation was damaged enormously after a massive Listeria outbreak in its products caused dozens of sicknesses and multiple deaths. The outbreak was first discovered when Boar’s Head-brand liverwurst was tested by health professionals who found the presence of Listeria. The officials soon traced the issue back to a Boar’s Head plant in Jarratt, Virginia, which seemed to be the potential epicenter of the outbreak.

2- Sara Lee: Most people flock to the brand for its cakes and baked goods instead of its sliced ham and turkey. That might be due to a significant knock to its reputation for producing safe deli meats in the late ’90s, which has arguably hung over the company since. Sara Lee was one brand that was hit by a massive Listeriosis outbreak in 1998, which affected products manufactured by Bil Mar Foods and prompted a huge recall of products. The scale of the outbreak is not to be understated: 11 states were affected, with over 80 people becoming sick and 15 people dying in total.

3- Pilgrim’s Pride: Pilgrim’s Pride Foods faced arguably its biggest challenge to date back in 2022, when one of its plants was discovered as the source of an almighty Listeriosis outbreak. This outbreak swept across the Northeastern states, infecting dozens of people and causing multiple deaths — and it was all prompted by simple, unassuming sliced turkey deli meat. All of the affected meat was produced over a span of five months, which made the scale of the recall absolutely massive. As such, Pilgrim’s Pride had to seek out approximately 27.4 million pounds of its products, which we can imagine wasn’t the easiest job in the world to do.

4- Maple Leaf Foods: One of the most notorious Listeriosis outbreaks in history occurred in Canada towards the end of the 2000s. It all began in February 2008, when Listeria test results undertaken at a Maple Leaf Foods plant began to come back positive. As a result, management at the plant undertook safety and hygiene precautions to get rid of any Listeria infection, and it was then assumed that the problem was dealt with. However, a combination of communication issues and lack of poor trend analysis led to the problem recurring and growing, and by June 2008, the outbreak was in full swing. Over the next few months, Listeriosis began to affect multiple vulnerable individuals, ultimately resulting in 57 illnesses and 22 deaths. The outbreak was accompanied by an enormous recall of Maple Leaf Foods meat products, with a grand total of 191 different products recalled by the company.

5- Zemco Industries: Back in 2010, Zemco Industries had an almighty battle on its hands. The Buffalo-based establishment had to recall a massive amount of deli meat — 172 tons, to be exact — when it was discovered that it could potentially be contaminated with Listeria. The meat was used in “Grab & Go” sandwiches that were sold in Walmart, and black forest ham, hot ham, hard salami, pepperoni, and slices of roast beef were all thought to be potentially affected.

6- Manda Packing Company: Roast beef and deli ham are staple purchases for many people — but if you were buying them back in 2013, you might have found yourself in a little bit of trouble. In April of that year, Louisiana-based firm Manda Packing Company had to put out a recall of 468,000 pounds of product. The reason? The same one as so many other recalls: It was thought that its products could have been contaminated with Listeria, posing a massive health risk to a huge amount of people. Things were made even more difficult for the Manda Packing Company by the fact that these deli meat products had been shipped to 13 states at the time of recall.

7- ConSup North America: In April 2024, just over 85,000 pounds of prosciutto had to be recalled by ConSup North America after it was shipped to stores across the country. The reason for the recall was that some of the product was produced in Germany, and they were then exported to the United States to be distributed without equivalent inspection. This essentially means that the prosciutto wasn’t necessarily inspected using the same benchmarks or standards that the Food Safety & Inspection Service uses in the U.S., or that the company behind its production couldn’t specifically demonstrate that it was inspected to the same level. This could create a potential safety issue and limit the lack of information available to health bodies and consumers alike. Luckily, no illnesses or adverse reactions had been reported to prompt this recall.

8- Fratelli Beretta: It was found that the coppa ham in the charcuterie products may have been under processed, leaving it susceptible to Salmonella pathogens that had worked their way into the food. Regrettably, by the time the problem was identified, the products had been distributed to stores nationwide. Fratelli Beretta had a lot of work on its hands to get its products back, and unfortunately it didn’t manage to do so in time to prevent people becoming ill. A wide scale Salmonella outbreak occurred, with over 100 people becoming sick and 27 being hospitalized across 33 states. The saving grace of the outbreak was that no one died, but there’s no denying that it was still incredibly serious. It wasn’t just Fratelli Beretta brand charcuterie items that were affected either, as store-brand charcuterie products sold by Aldi, Black Bear, Lidl, and Publix were also impacted by the Salmonella outbreak.

9- BJ’s Wholesale Club: It was found that the deli meat had potentially been in contact with equipment that had been used to prepare mortadella sold by the store — mortadella (which is made from steamed sausage) that had pistachios in it, which hadn’t previously been expected by BJ’s. This, of course, created a headache for BJ’s due to the potential for an allergic reaction and the risk to customers’ health. It’s worth pointing out that BJ’s had mistakenly received the wrong mortadella, and so this error wasn’t exactly the fault of the store itself. However, as the meat was sold in stores in eight states over a period of two weeks, it left the store with an almighty task to try and get the affected product back.

And there we have it; a run-down of the worst deli meat recalls of all time. Keep your eyes peeled to Make Food Safe for more food safety tips and recall information.