I have always liked Boar’s Head despite the price. Just recently we got a dill pickle-flavored hummus that was freaking delicious. (It didn’t have any actual dill pickle in it, but tasted like it, it was amazing with potato chips of all things.)
I recall when Jack in the Box was reeling after E. coli outbreaks at their restaurants, and it’s still probably the most infamous food poisoning outbreak in modern times. Over 700 people got sick, four children died, and almost 200 people ended up with permanent kidney and/or brain injuries. The heart of the whole thing happened right around where I live. Yet the restaurant eventually recovered, changed their food handling policies, and over 30 years later are doing all right.
I don’t think one outbreak should necessarily end a food company, even one as serious as this one, and I won’t rule out getting Boar’s Head again someday if it’s still around.
Have you ever tried dill pickle-flavored potato chips? They’re really good…sort of a mild salt and vinegar chip with dill (some brands sprinkle some actual dill in there).
Yes and I love them, but I thought this was better somehow.
Actually, I had it with pretzels, which were good, then a sour cream and onion chip (Lay’s) which somehow was some magic combination.
I did not eat it with a dill pickle-flavored chip, though, or a dill pickle itself. A little too redundant.
And I’ll also chime in that my first experience with Boar’s Head (which someone else also related) was a little deli that was selling sandwiches made from it. In my case it was some deli in Seattle, just outside or in Belltown/Westlake. The company I worked at (a small medical software company) had moved to a Belltown location, and back then I’d take the ferry to Seattle then walk to work, and I had spotted this little place from the sidewalk on my walk, and later decided to stop in and get a sandwich one day. It was great. Then later I saw it at grocery stores (the first one I think was QFC), and more recently Fred Meyer had it (though I’m not sure if they still do, I haven’t checked in a while, probably not).
My wife found another dill pickle hummus at the store today (haven’t opened it yet but I’m looking forward to it). AFAIK the recall only applies to their meat.
But just in case, I was pointing out that my local Kroger had sales on the expensive stuff very rarely, and generally only in the 10% range at most - more commonly just say a $1 off a pound. But frequently has sales on turkey and ham.
Doesn’t matter. Outside the rare craving, my inner cheapness looks at $14-16.99 a pound and says, naaaah, I’ll get a steak instead for a buck or two a pound less. And said steaks go on sale more frequently!
When I worked at McDonalds as recently as 1987 or so, the quarter pounder onions were fresh/refrigerated in a plastic bag, already diced (or whatever you call that cut).
The other style of onion, for the regular hamburgers and big macs were reconstituted onsite from dried pieces.
I was in a big grocery store I seldom shop in, and noticed the cold cuts in the deli case were a brand I’d never heard of. But nearby standing in a little refrigerated case all by themselves were sliced packaged Boar’s Head ham, turkey, roast beef.
It doesn’t appear that the West Coast was all that affected by the recall. You can still get pretty much anything freshly-sliced, except perhaps the liverwurst. I haven’t checked.
A few days ago, I bought another brand of pastrami, mainly due to price. It was horrible compared to Boars Head. I’m spoiled by them. They are what I grew up eating as a kid in NY, and there simply isn’t anything that compares to their quality, IMHO.
That’s not to say that I don’t understand the fear and anger. I wouldn’t want to eat anything from the plant that caused the problems either, and it sucks that the plant in question not only harmed their own existence and all of those jobs with their negligence, but also the Boar’s Head name as a whole. But as long as what I’m eating is safe, and I have no reason to believe that it isn’t, they will still be my number one choice. Not only for meats and cheeses, but I also love their sauerkraut, bacon, and mustard.
That the thing; given that Boar’s Head allowed the conditions at their plant in Jarratt, Virginia to get that bad leads me to wonder whether other plants are just as bad. So I would not say “you have no reason to believe what you’re eating of theirs is safe.”
They took a number of measures to improve. According to this report:
The company said it is appointing a new chief food safety officer who will report to its president. It is also establishing a safety council comprised of independent experts, including Mindy Brashears, a former food safety chief at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Frank Yiannas, a former deputy commissioner for food policy at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Beyond that, they permanently closed the plant in question, and permanently discontinued their liverwurst products. That sounds proactive to me. And if any other problems occur elsewhere, I’ll re-evaluate my stance. For now though, I’m not sure what else they could do.
