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.
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!
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.
And yet boar’s head is consistently more expensive than anything else.
Nobody said the cost savings was gonna get passed to the consumer. What are ya, a commie?
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.
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.
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.
Sooo… a typical slaughterhouse, then. Sounds like someone didn’t prep for the scheduled visit.
The USDA recorded 69 violations in a year.
Nice
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…
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.
Norm in particular you rarely would know where he was going.
Damn dude
My bad. I’m not a comedian. Idk where the line is between “so real it’s funny” and “so real it’s not funny”…
So here we are.
Sorry.
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.
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.
Lithuanians practically built Northern Illinois during that era, not just Chicago, but Belvidere and Rockford too.
you don’t want to see what the meat industry is like in southeast asia
it’s The Jungle all over again
I knew Publix brand always tasted cleaner.
A picture of hell but a libertarian heaven.
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
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
It all freezes well and you thaw it out as needed. Apparently you missed that part.
taking a lot of fridge / freezer space
Maybe you forgot the freezer part.
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.
Friendly reminder that meat is a choice and its a shit one.
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.
Ah yea, forgot fruit and veggies are immune to recalls and health & safety violations
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.
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.
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
eating meat has no impact on the planet.
Why do you assume everyone who eats meat has it every meal? I’ve spent years not living like that and never fully stopped eating meat
Because I was being hyperbolic. You’re probably doing it right imo.
What are you using to send this comment?
What brand clothes are you wearing?
What foods are in your fridge/pantry?
I appreciate the point you’re trying to make but if you look into it, our meat habit is far and away one of, if not the, biggest climate challenges we face. We cannot continue consuming meat at our current pace and curb global warming, it’s that simple. And while my initial post is extremely judgemental, I really just wish people would start paying attention to how much meat they eat. Is it really necessary? Really? Every meal? Considering the resources meat requires to harvest, I don’t think so, but, sure, harp on my clothes, bro/broette.
if you look into it, our meat habit is far and away one of, if not the, biggest climate challenges we face.
citation needed
Don’t you have some cats to torture with a vegan diet or something?
