Lordy what a public announcement @bbqboy !
Yeah its off the list. I’m going to start sourcing cold meats and cheeses differently. Good enough reason to branch out. I will also be asking/looking to see how retailers move forward on prepared cold meat menu items. BH is a big supplier.
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There have been several articles in WaPo about the BH plant that produced the liverwurst, mainly focused on the (now unemployed) workforce and the apparently dismal sanitation situation at the plant. You have to wonder how it remained open despite so much inspection activity going on. Just gross. Profits Uber Alles!
gift link to today’s piece:
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“The Secretive Dynasty That Controls the Boar’s Head Brand”
This is IMHO a very intriguing article and I could see this story as being turned into a screenplay.
Here’s a link via a news aggregator that I trust.
And a link to the original NYT article for those who are subscribers or just prefer to read it there:
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This is fascinating reading, thanks for the links. I knew that BH was squirrely in that they demanded to be the ONLY brand of its type in a store, but to hear the CFO, who’d worked there for over 20 years, say he didn’t know who the CEO was, was incredibly interesting. And I never liked their products so I guess I haven’t stopped buying them, having not bought their products in the first place after a couple of tries.
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You’re welcome and I’m glad others felt the article was interesting. I’ve never bought any BH products because they’re a little out of my ballpark budget. But even if I were to come into some money, after the listeria scandal and reading about the issues covered in the article, I think I’d choose to avoid their products.
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That was a good read…and a little nutty. All I can say is sausage making and secrecy…a very bad combo.
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I read Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” in high school and remember the details of the story well. I guess some of that still exists.
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Reading about the USDA’s ignorance of Boar’s Head problems makes my blood boil!
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I have wondered in passing why some stores carried Boars Head, and some carried Dietz and Watson, but never both. Now I know.
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And it is insane how it took a Congressional inquiry for the USDA’s IG to initiate an investigation:
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Not a big deli meat consumer, so I don’t buy much from them anyway. But they do have what I consider to be the best mass market hot dog on the market. I prefer their all beef hot dogs, but the pork and beef ones were pretty good too. This is a bummer to take that off my list, because other brands don’t really compare. Even Pearl’s - which is beloved locally - is not as good as the Boars Head brand, IMO.
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Do a search, who gutted the USDA, and you’ll get find out it was a hatchet job. USDA was critically defunded.
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Why, I’m absolutely shocked to learn which administration was responsible. Shocked I tell you.
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My God, that administration was even worse than I thought.
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looks like the number of inspection personnel in the 2024 budget is the same as was funded in 2019.
dont know about the gutting issue but moving a department is a classic way of cutting staff. I saw several of these working for major corporate employers, moving departments from the NE to Georgia,Florida and NC - for obvious economic reasons. They lost some good people its true but also some dead wood. Were able to replace most easily at a cost saving but had trouble fillingsome positions. Thats what happens …
I dont know the USDA but I remember one of my law school classmates joined it as a idealistic newly minted lawyer in 1977. Her idealism didnt last long - she was told she was making the others look bad by working hard, all the notionally required hours. Lots of time servers, along with the dedicated public servants, likely.
Its challenging getting an agency to do its job well. And there are lots of changes in priority from year to year - the flavor de jour. Food inspection is a very small component of the USDA budget so without a real crisis it willnot be a priority.
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It’s no surprise that some factions want to see deregulation happen BIG TIME…like ousting complete federal agencies. Deregulations get you more Boars Head debacles….and deaths.
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This is what I was (waves hand vaguely) referring to.
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USDA is pretty wide ranging, the Forest Service is under USDA, and forest fires take an enormous amount of money, for openers, no idea how much they get funded. I don’t know how many other agencies are under USDA, but I do know they’re underfunded in general
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(post deleted by author)
Clearly
