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Supervisors Arrested - Read Charges

Application and Affidavit for Search Warrant at Agriprocessors! Read Here!

Blood, Sweat, and Fear
Workers’ Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants

K'hal Adath Jeshurun (KAJ) kosher certification agency terminates its supervision of Agriprocessors products, effective April 16, 2008! See the letter here!

Kosher Meat Company Loses Legal Fight to Union
Agriprocessors and Food Safety

UPDATE: For the food safety report on Agriprocessors' Local Pride plant click here.

Research into the food safety situation at Agriprocessors has led to some alarming finds. Investigation of government reports has revealed two Class I meat recalls within the space of eight months, along with "Mad Cow" monitoring violations, fecal and bile contamination of meat and poultry, foreign objects in food, and live rodents and feces. The Food Safety and Inspection Service defines a Class I recall as "a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."  Moreover, the Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued over 250 citations for violations of food safety procedures between January 1, 2006 and January 24, 2007. The types of violations are varied and include instances where the threat of food-borne illness for consumers may have been increased, along with violations of a sanitary nature. Please feel free to browse the information below. Source documents from U.S. government agencies are available for download.

Food Safety Concerns and Agriprocessors

Agriprocessors has been investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and repeatedly cited for food safety violations. According to documents recently obtained by the UFCW through Freedom of Information Act requests, over 250 Noncompliance Records (NRs) were issued to Agriprocessors by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) between January 1, 2006 and January 24, 2007. In addition, FSIS records show two Class I meat recalls in 2007 attributed to Agriprocessors. FSIS documents also cite numerous food safety violations committed by Agriprocessors that may have increased the risk of food-borne illnesses to consumers. 

Specific findings include:

    • At least five citations for faulty monitoring relating to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or "Mad Cow" disease.
    • Over a dozen NRs issued for fecal and bile contamination of beef and poultry.
    • Four NRs issued for foreign objects, plastic and metallic, found during sausage and poultry production.
    • Three NRs issued in relation to rodent problems, including live rodents and feces.
    • "A serious mislabeling noncompliance" involving a shipment of beef. 

“Mad Cow” Disease and Agriprocessors

In the space of less than eight months, Agriprocessors was cited by the FSIS for violations involving processes for screening for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or "Mad Cow" disease, on at least five different occasions. A sixth violation dated April 2, 2006, concerning spinal cords may also be related, although this is not clear due to the redacted state of the document.

Please click here for a list of specific violations.

Recalls
 
Agriprocessors has also been subject to two different meat recalls in 2007 as follows:
 
    • On July 6, 2007, the FSIS reported a recall of 35,860 pounds of frozen beef and chicken because Agriprocessors failed to properly document on the label the possibility that these products may contain egg albumen, a known allergen. This recall was deemed "Class I" by the FSIS,  which is defined by the agency as "a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death." See official link at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_032_2007_Release/index.asp 
Salmonella Contamination
 
In July 2006, Food and Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization, released a report on Salmonella issues at USDA-inspected broiler chicken establishments. According to the report, Agriprocessors failed to comply with USDA Salmonella standards on two separate occasions in 2000 and 2005. Contamination rates for the failed test periods at Agriprocessors equaled 25.5 percent in 2000 between the time period 5/9/00 to 11/29/00 and 29.4 percent in 2005 between 8/1/05 to 12/1/05.
 
For the full report, titled Foul Fowl: Salmonella in Chickens, please visit Food and Water Watch's website at http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/pubs/reports/food-reports-public/atct_topic_view?b_start:int=20&-C


The following information is available for download:

  • Interview with former supervisor at Agriprocessors (Posted: Jul 17, 2008 12:57:38)
  • Press Release (Updated: Feb 29, 2008 07:02:00)
  • Local Pride Food Safety Report and Noncompliances (Updated: Feb 29, 2008 07:03:00)
  • Sodium, Agriprocessors and Trader Joe's (Updated: Jan 17, 2008 08:16:00)
  • Have you received a phone call regarding Agriprocessors? (Updated: Nov 16, 2007 07:29:00)
  • Full UFCW Food Safety Report on Agriprocessors (Updated: Sep 18, 2007 08:51:00)
  • "Mad Cow" Disease and Agriprocessors (Updated: Sep 18, 2007 07:38:00)
  • Food Safety and Inspection Service Noncompliance Records for Specific Issues (Updated: Sep 20, 2007 08:21:00)
  • All Noncompliance Records Beginning January 2004 to January 2007 (Updated: Sep 12, 2007 13:09:00)
  • Letters of Warning from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (Updated: Sep 20, 2007 08:19:00)


    • Page Last Updated: Jul 17, 2008 (12:57:38)
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