USDA cut back on listeria testing nationwide, ahead of deadly Boar's Head outbreak
CBSN
In the year leading up to a deadly listeria outbreak now traced back to recalled Boar's Head deli meats, U.S. Department of Agriculture records show that Biden administration officials quietly made significant cuts to planned testing for germs across America's food supply.
The department says the cuts did not translate to significantly fewer tests at the now-shuttered Boar's Head plant in Jarratt, Virginia, that's been blamed for the outbreak.
Other Boar's Head plants are also now under law enforcement investigation, CBS News reported Thursday, and federal food safety officials have pledged a "top-to-bottom review" of what went wrong leading up to the outbreak linked to at least 59 hospitalizations and 10 deaths.
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