The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Inspector General (IG) has stepped in to lead the investigation into the March 3, 2016 incident, looking at possible sabotage.
A spokesman for Wayne Farms said the company is “working in collaboration” with the IG’s investigation and cannot comment further until it is complete, reports Food Safety news.
The foreign material was found on a poultry processing line at the company’s Laurel, Mississippi plant on March 3. In a statement, the company said, “It was the beginning of second shift, all product was put on hold for further investigation.”
All product was put on hold after the material was discovered, and because the material was immediately found at the beginning of the second shift, no recall was needed. The production line has since then continued at the fresh processing plant and the Wayne Farms spokesman said food safety was never compromised.
The Laurel plant is going through cutbacks of the workforce due to the closure of deboning lines which will result in about 500 workers being laid off in June. This will leave 200 jobs remaining, needed to process around 650,000 birds a week. Some of the laid-off workers are being transferred to other Wayne Farms facilities.
Oakwood, Georgia-based Wayne Farms LLC is the sixth largest poultry processor in the United States with annual sales exceeding $2.2 billion. Wayne Farms is a subsidiary of Continental Grain Company and owns and operates 11 fresh and further processing facilities throughout the Southeast. The company produces more than 2.6 billion pounds of poultry products each year.
