HANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Federal inspectors shut down a
central California slaughterhouse that supplies beef to the National
School Lunch Program because of unsanitary conditions.
The U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a
statement Tuesday that it withdrew inspectors and suspended operations
at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford, about 30 miles south of Fresno,
over the conditions.
"The plant’s suspension will be lifted once we receive adequate assurances of corrective
action," the agency said.
The
Times reported that Central Valley Meat didn’t respond to a request for
comment. Company representatives didn’t immediately return a phone
message left by The Associated Press on Tuesday evening.
In 2012,
Central Valley Meat Co. shut down for a week after Compassion Over
Killing, an animal rights group, sent videos to federal officials
showing workers torturing cows with electric prods and spraying hot
water on the animals, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/1m8qZU8 ).
"This
facility has a history of rampant animal abuse, so it’s not surprising
that it’s also having issues with unsanitary conditions," Erica Meier,
executive director of Compassion Over Killing, told the newspaper.
The
2012 abuse led to the end of the company’s relationship with In-N-Out.
The national lunch program and McDonald’s also suspended purchases.
Federal inspectors didn’t find that the animals’ treatment affected food safety.
The
facility reopened after submitting a plan of action that included
training its workers to use electric prods correctly and banning taking
in cows not able to walk or stand.
In addition, in September 2013,
Central Valley recalled 58,000 pounds of beef for the school lunch
program after federal officials said the meat possibly contained pieces
of plastic. There was no recall in Tuesday’s announcement.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
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