Latest Meat Processing Headlines
All the headlines from our Meat Processing Topic Page, ordered by recency.
U.S. Issues New Coronavirus Safety Guidance for Meat, Poultry Plants
Apr 27 2020 // The U.S. Labor Department issued new guidelines on Sunday for U.S. meatpacking and meat-processing plants that have seen a rash of coronavirus outbreaks, saying employees should be spaced at least 6 feet (1.8 m) apart and...
5,000 Meat, Food Plant Workers Exposed to Coronavirus, Union Says
Apr 24 2020 // More than 5,000 U.S. meat and food-processing workers have been infected with or exposed to the new coronavirus, and 13 have died, the country’s largest meatpacking union said on Thursday. The statistics reflect how...
Tyson Foods Halts Work at Large Iowa Pork Plant to Curb Coronavirus Spread
Apr 23 2020 // Tyson Foods Inc. plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its largest pork plant in the United States to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus, the company said on Wednesday. It said the Waterloo, Iowa plant had...
Despite Virus Outbreak, Midwest States Work to Keep Meat Plants Open
Apr 22 2020 // Governors in the Midwest are working to keep large meatpacking plants operating despite coronavirus outbreaks that have sickened hundreds of workers and threaten to disrupt the nation’s supply of pork and beef. In...
Iowa Beef Plant Reopens After 177 Workers Test Positive for Virus
Apr 21 2020 // An Iowa beef processing plant that was idled after a coronavirus outbreak resumed production Monday, one day after the state said 177 workers there have tested positive. The Iowa Premium plant in Tama, owned by National...
4 Tyson Foods Poultry Workers in Georgia Die of Coronavirus
Apr 21 2020 // Four employees of a major poultry producer’s operations in rural southwest Georgia have died after becoming infected with the coronavirus, a company spokesman said Friday. Tyson Foods spokesman Gary Mickelson said...
South Dakota COVID-19 Cases at Meat Plant Top 1,000; One Worker Dies
Apr 17 2020 // The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus in South Dakota has surpassed 1,100 and more than half of those cases have some connection to the Smithfield Foods pork processing plant in Sioux Falls. Health...
Tyson Foods: 2 Iowa Pork Plant Employees Dead After Virus Outbreak
Apr 17 2020 // Two employees have died following a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened scores of Tyson Foods workers at a large pork plant in southeastern Iowa, the company said. The deaths of the workers at Tyson plant in Columbus...
Iowa Beef Plant Suspends Operations Due to Worker Virus Infections
Apr 15 2020 // A beef processing plant in one of Iowa’s coronavirus hot spots has suspended production after several workers have become infected. National Beef announced that its Iowa Premium plant in Tama will be idled until...
Meat Plant Closures, Absenteeism Rise With Workers’ Fear of Coronavirus, Lack of Safety
Apr 15 2020 // CHICAGO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba — At a Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama, workers recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, according to a meat...
Smithfield’s South Dakota Pork Plant Closed After 100s Test Positive for Virus
Apr 14 2020 // Virginia-based Smithfield Foods announced Sunday that it is closing its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, until further notice after hundreds of employees tested positive for the coronavirus — a step...
Iowa Meat Plant Pushes Back Against Claims of Micronesian Worker Mistreatment
Oct 8 2019 // An Iowa pork processing plant is working to address Micronesia’s concerns about the treatment of some of its citizens who work at the plant. Seaboard Triumph Foods said that it follows all employment laws and it is...
Micronesians Working at Iowa Meat Plant Allege Mistreatment
Oct 4 2019 // The island nation of Micronesia is raising concerns about how some of its citizens working at an Iowa pork processing plant are being treated. Micronesia sent a formal letter to the U.S. State Department asking U.S....
Lawsuit: Workers at Iowa Pork Processor Fired for Work Conditions Complaints
Jun 27 2019 // Three workers have sued an Iowa pork processor they said fired them in retaliation for filing complaints about working conditions and talking with state health officials. Luis Aceves, Jose Moreno and Jose Magana filed...
Texas Meat Packing Plant Faces $615.6K in Penalties for Safety Violations
May 7 2019 // A meat packing plant in San Angelo, Texas, has been cited for exposing workers to highly hazardous chemicals and faces more than $615,000 in penalties. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health...
Troubled Delaware Poultry Plant Reports Wastewater Spill
Feb 15 2019 // State environmental officials say a southern Delaware poultry processing facility with a history of wastewater violations has reported an accidental discharge of up to 1 million gallons of partially treated...
Jury Orders Pork Producer to Pay $473.5M in North Carolina Nuisance Lawsuit
Aug 20 2018 // A federal jury decided Aug. 5 that the world’s largest pork producer should pay $473.5 million to neighbors of three North Carolina industrial-scale hog farms for unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors,...
Jury Orders Pork Producer to Pay $473.5M in North Carolina Nuisance Lawsuit
Aug 6 2018 // A federal jury decided Friday that the world’s largest pork producer should pay $473.5 million to neighbors of three North Carolina industrial-scale hog farms for unreasonable nuisances they suffered from odors,...
Texas Meatpacker Recalls Another 9 Tons of Smoked Sausage
Jun 4 2018 // A Texas meatpacker is recalling several tons of smoked sausage over possible contamination by soft plastic, marking the company’s second recall in a month. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on May 31 announced the...
Ammonia Leak at South Carolina Meat Plant Forces Evacuation of Nearby Residents
Mar 27 2018 // Neighbors of a South Carolina processed meat plant are breathing easy again after being ordered to run from their homes ahead of a chemical leak. Multiple media organizations reported that the leak of anhydrous ammonia...
