Supermarkets and delis across New York have seen sales of Boar’s Head meats plunge as much as 30% following a deadly listeria outbreak that has been linked to the iconic cold cut brand, The Post has learned.
New York has been especially hard hit as the state health department investigates 17 listeria cases – including eight in the Big Apple alone.
Last week, federal agencies said the Empire state also has one confirmed death out of nine nationwide.
Since the outbreak made headlines, New Yorkers have displayed wariness of cold cuts across the board — a trend that has accelerated with recent news of more illnesses and a death, according to local supermarket executives.
“Sales are down for all of our deli products,” said one New York City grocery executive who asked not to be identified. “People are trying to understand what’s going with cold cuts and the latest news is hitting too close to home.”
Cold cut sales at the chain are down by at least 10% as of last week, the executive told The Post, adding that the news last week of six additional deaths “is affecting people’s thinking especially when it comes to their kids.”
Sales of Boar’s Head products were down by 30% at 20 Morton Williams grocery stores across the New York metro area, co-owner Avi Kaner told The Post.
“Customers are avoiding the brand and substituting,” Kaner said. He added, however, that in the case of Morton Williams overall deli sales, including prepared foods, were still “strong” despite the listeria scare.
Stop & Shop, which announced that it had temporarily closed its deli counters in July to do a deep cleaning of its equipment, said it continues to sell Boar’s Head.
“There are currently no impacted products in our stores, and our delis continue to adhere to our high standards of sanitation,” the company said in a statement. “We have spoken with our supplier and no additional recalls are planned.”
Stop & Shop declined to say whether consumers are avoiding the brand.
Boar’s Head noted in a blog post that the recall only affects certain meats from a single plant in Jarratt, Va., “ranging from mostly sliced fresh from the deli counter liverwurst, bolognas, and smoked hams to a limited number of pre-packaged retail sausage, frankfurter, and bacon products.”
The century-old, Sarasota, Fla.-based company said its turkey, chicken, roast beef, charcuterie and cheese are not included in the recall.
In a bid to reassure jittery customers, Boar’s Head began distributing signage last week for display on deli counters.
The placards say the company is “committed to the quality and safety of our products.”
Last month, the National Supermarket Association warned its 750 members – independently owned businesses, including Key Food, C-Town, Associated and Bravo – to yank Boar’s Head signage in their stores until further notice.
“We don’t feel that we are liable,” Nelson Eusebio, political director of the NSA told The Post in August. “But [lawsuits] are a concern.”
Boar’s Head recalled more than 7 million pounds of meats and cheeses in late July, including its liverwurst, which tested positive for listeria.
The company issued two recalls for all the products that were made on the same equipment as the liverwurst at it’s Jarratt, Va. -based plant, which is currently closed as it investigates the outbreak.
It is the worst listeria outbreak in the US since 2011, when 147 people were sickened and 33 died after eating cantaloupe.
So far, the government has confirmed that 57 people were sickened by Boar’s Head products and eight people have died.
Over the past year, the Jarratt, Va.-based plant racked up more than 60 incidents of “non-compliance” – including a preponderance of flying insects, rancid odors, mold, particles of meat on surfaces, condensation dripping onto product among other unsanitary conditions, according to inspection reports released by the USDA last week.
Some of the company’s distributors have told supermarket customers that the additional five deaths announced by the CDC last week are not new cases — a claim that has left some grocers skeptical.
“Our distributors are trying to say that nothing new has happened, that these deaths were from the original cases of people who were sick already,” the supermarket executive who did not want to be identified told The Post.
