Often there are reports of chicken products like nuggets and sausages containing small wayward plastic pieces. But here is a case at a poultry processing facility in Missouri, which is being suspected of being an incident of deliberate sabotage, rather than an everyday accident.
In a new development, currently, as many as 11 fresh and further processing poultry plants owned by Wayne Farms in five southern states are on high alert following the discovery of foreign materials in the company's Laurel, MS, processing line resulting in a probe into possible sabotage, Food Safety News reported.
In fact, keeping the gravity of the situation in view and looking at possible sabotage, the Inspector General of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been called in to lead the investigation into the March 3, 2016 incident.
When contacted for a comment on the incident and subsequent probe into the issue, a spokesman for Wayne Farms said they are currently "working in collaboration" with the investigation undertaken by the USDA IG and, hence, are not in a position to comment on the subject until the probe is complete.
Shortly after the foreign material was discovered on a poultry processing line at Wayne Farms' Laure plant on March 3, the company issued a statement saying "It was the beginning of second shift; all product was put on hold for further investigation." Meanwhile, production remained unaffected at the fresh processing plant, while the Wayne Farms spokesman said they never compromised on food safety.
Currently, the Laurel plant of the company is experiencing workforce cutbacks owing to the closure of deboning lines, which is expected to result in an estimated 500 workers being laid off in June, the Consumerist reported. In fact, this will leave 200 jobs remaining necessary for processing approximately 650,000 chickens every week. Wane Farms is transferring some of its workers laid-off at the Laurel facility to other facilities of the company.
It is worth mentioning here that Wayne Farms is a subsidiary of Continental Grain Company and owns as well as operates 11 fresh and further processing facilities all over the Southeast. The company produces over 2.6 billion pounds of poultry products annually and its annual sales exceed $2.2 billion.
