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Two senior Democratic lawmakers have called on the Justice Department to open an investigation into Boar’s Head following a listeria outbreak linked to its Virginia plant.

Let’s bring you up to speed: More than 7 million pounds of Boar’s Head deli meats have been recalled due to a listeria outbreak linked to the company’s plant in Jarratt, Virginia. This outbreak has caused 10 deaths, with fatalities reported in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. The recall affects various products, including liverwurst, ham, salami, and bologna, produced between May 10 and July 29, under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names.

What’s going on now: Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Rosa DeLauro, both Democrats from Connecticut, are calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to take action in response to a deadly listeria outbreak linked to a Boar’s Head plant in Virginia. The lawmakers are also calling for a thorough reform of USDA oversight practices, emphasizing the need for stricter enforcement of food safety standards to prevent such incidents in the future.

What they said: In a letter to both agencies, the lawmakers wrote, “The time for action is long overdue, and we urge your agencies to work together to seek immediate justice for impacted consumers and to prevent this from happening again.” They continued, “It is painfully clear that by choosing not to aggressively ensure that safety standards were being followed, the USDA failed to uphold its congressional mandate. Years of inadequate response have led to safety conditions within the plant that are impossible to remedy easily, and as a result, Boar’s Head recently decided to indefinitely shut down the plant, potentially leaving hundreds of workers in a small town unemployed.”

What Boar’s Head is saying: In a statement on July 30, the company said, “On behalf of all of us at Boar’s Head Brand, we want to let our customers and consumers know that we deeply regret that our liverwurst products were found to be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes. No words can fully express our sympathies and the sincere and deep hurt we feel for the families that have suffered losses and others who endured illness.”