{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/delauro-leads-letters-boars-head-usda-questioning-listeria-outbreak", "DeLauro Leads Letters to Boar\u2019s Head, USDA Questioning Listeria Outbreak", "2024-09-30", "2024", "2024-09", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Rosa L. DeLauro", "D000216", "delauro.house.gov", "delauro", "https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro led her colleagues in sending two bicameral letters to Boar\u2019s Head and the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA FSIS) questioning how the Boar\u2019s Head plant at the center of a nationwide Listeria outbreak was allowed to keep operating despite over 60 citations for noncompliance and U.S. inspectors warning \u201cthat conditions at [the] Boar\u2019s Head plant posed an \u2018imminent threat\u2019 to public health\u201d two years prior to the outbreak.\n\nIn the letter to Boar\u2019s Head, DeLauro and lawmakers demanded answers to better understand how the outbreak was allowed to occur and how the company has committed to preventing outbreaks in the future.\n\n\u201cThese conditions show a complete disregard for food safety and for the public health of the American people,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cAs a company that operates within the United States and sells to American consumers, you have an obligation to protect public health and prepare and sell food that meets safety standards. With the science we have available, there is no excuse for the tragic loss of life that has occurred as a result of this outbreak.\u201d\n\nIn the letter to USDA\u2019s FSIS, the lawmakers slammed the agency\u2019s lax oversight that led to the outbreak and subsequent plant closure. They demanded answers as to how the plant was allowed to continue operations despite repeated infractions that created ripe conditions that led to product contamination and the outbreak of dangerous pathogens like Listeria.\n\n\u201cThis outbreak could have and should have been prevented,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cWhat is especially troubling is how egregious sanitation problems occurred despite supposed regular oversight; oversight which typically includes at least one inspection per shift\u2026 It is appalling that seemingly no enforcement actions have been taken against Boar\u2019s Head despite the reported repeated records of major noncompliance\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:43:57Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/delauro-leads-letters-boars-head-usda-questioning-listeria-outbreak"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0640602558851242, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}