USDA letter to livermush-maker Neese’s Sausage cites positive listeria test
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- USDA letter cited positive Listeria tests and prompted partial plant suspension.
A USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service letter that partially shut down production at North Carolina-based Neese’s Country Sausage cited positive tests for listeria among the causes.
Listeria monocytogenes is a rare but serious foodborne bacteria. It’s a public health concern especially to high-risk populations including pregnant women, newborns, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.
Positive tests for listeria were found on Sept. 3 on a stainless steel table in two other areas described as the “bottom boot” and “pudding line floor under sink.”
However, USDA testing first detected listeria at the Neese’s facility on Sept. 08, 2024. “At the time, it was the first entry for the establishment,” the letter said.
“Despite all the results, there is no record that the establishment reassessed their written HACCP [Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points] program. The last documented Fully Cooked Not Shelf Stable HACCP plan reassessment is dated August 2, 2024,” the letter said.
CharlotteFive requested a copy of the letter under the federal Freedom of Information Act on Thursday, Dec. 4, and an electronic copy of the letter including redactions of trade secrets and personal privacy matters was provided Thursday, Dec. 11.
Neese’s owner Tommy Neese told CharlotteFive on Thursday that he would send a statement via email. The statement received late Friday afternoon said:
“Neese Country Sausage company’s priority is the safety of the food products our customers have loved for over 100 years. Earlier this Fall, our product safety monitoring program detected one ready to eat product (C-Loaf) that contained listeria. We immediately halted production, held all ready to eat products from commerce and notified the USDA. We are cooperating with the USDA and are utilizing independent food safety experts to resolve this issue and are working diligently to return these products to your local stores and markets. Sincerely, Thomas R. Neese, III”
Commercial customers and home cooks alike in North Carolina had noticed Neese’s livermush and liver pudding products had been unavailable for weeks, and its country sausage had become harder to find.
Problems cited
A USDA-FSIS spokesperson previously explained the suspension notice, saying: “FSIS issued a Notice of Suspension that only applies to a specific portion of the facility on September 11, 2025, after a determination that the establishment was not meeting the requirements of 9 C.F.R. § 430 for its ready-to-eat processes. The establishment has responded to the Notice of Suspension, which is under review.”
That specific USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service regulation involves a requirement to have effective controls in place to keep listeria contamination away from already-cooked food.
Among the other problems in operating procedures cited in the complaint were:
- “On 09/10/2025, EIAO observed a plant employee wearing dark blue smock and hairnet while smoking and standing outside the building. EIAO also observed another employee outside the building, wearing a white smock near the outside box room. The door into the cooler directly from the outside was left open with an approximately 24” opening.” (An EIAO is an Enforcement, Investigations and Analysis Officer.)
- Rust in areas including the hoist and chain above the cooker, and on buckets, metal cart shelves, drop ceiling tracts and blast chiller coils.
- “EIAO observed numerous rubber gloves tied to metal springs and other sections throughout the inside of the Pan Washer in the RTE Kitchen area. In addition, the metal cover/lid has a crack (approximately 3”) and there is a loose guide on the machine that is cracked and worn.”
- Loose insulation and flashing
- “Shipping Cooler sliding door was open (approximately 24”) directly to the outside.”
- “In addition, IPP documented SSOP NR# ALA2610085108N-1, dated August 7 2025, for a Roof leak in the RTE PIE Kitchen Area with the roof leaking onto a FCS table and cart holding empty pans from four (4) seams of the ceiling area and two (2) other leaks near the double doors leading from the RTE PLE Kitchen area into the RTE PLE Packaging room. Exposed product passes through these double doors to get into the cooler. The establishment currently has plastic sheeting hung diverting the leak to the floor area.”
Redactions of information
Some information was redacted from the USDA-FSIS suspension letter. Its response to CharlotteFive’s FOIA request included a letter saying, in part: “FSIS has determined that certain information contained therein should be withheld pursuant to U.S.C. § 552 (b)(4) and (b)(6) (FOIA Exemptions 4 and 6).”
Exemption 4 of the FOIA protects trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential, the letter explained.
It continued, “Exemption 6 generally is referred to as the “personal privacy” exemption. It provides that the disclosure requirements of FOIA do not apply to “personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Application of the exemption involves balancing the public’s interest in disclosure against individuals’ privacy interests.
“The information withheld under Exemption 6 consists of identifying information of FSIS in-plant personnel.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
