Boars Head discontinues former fan favorite after its identified as root of deadly listeria outbreak

Boar’s Head liverwurst has lined its last lunchbox.Boar’s Head announced this past Friday that it will stop making the deli counter’s most controversial cold cut. Liverwurst is a victim of the fallout from a listeria outbreak that led to a massive product recall. “Our investigation has identified the root cause of the contamination as a specific production process that only existed at the Jarratt (Virginia) facility and was used only for liverwurst,” the company said in a statement. “With this discovery, we have decided to permanently discontinue liverwurst.”It may be a distasteful moment for the food manufacturer — but the reality is that liverwurst, a once-savored flavor, has fallen out of favor. Liverwurst “is probably one of the least popular sandwich options in New York City,” Robert Sietsema of foodie outlet Eater NY wrote in an April essay about his quest to find liverwurst sandwiches in a city famed for its Old World-style deli culture.“A filling in a sandwich made on rye, pumpernickel or whole wheat, and dressed with mustard and sometimes raw onions, liverwurst was in many kids’ lunch bag rotation 30 years ago, though even then, it seemed oddly old-fashioned.”The author searched for liverwurst sandwiches at five different Manhattan delis this year. “None seemed to have it,” he wrote.

He said that “the older sandwich makers at least knew what it was.” Liverwurst is – and in a growing number of examples was – an emulsified sausage of German origin made from pork liver and other organs mixed with spices. Liverwurst was generally affordable for families and, in American culinary tradition, was often sliced into supermarket white-bread sandwiches for a quick boxed lunch. Some versions of liverwurst were softer, like a pate, and spread over bread. Liverwurst was popular enough during World War II to incite indignity over rationing.“Liverwurst caused a minor crisis last week,” Time Magazine reported in 1...