Founded in 1936, Smithfield Foods is a food manufacturer based out of Virginia that is "passionate about producing good food the right way."
The company is a global leader in the packaged meats category, including popular brands such as Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John and Healthy Ones. The company stresses that it is committed to providing responsible food safety and quality programs.
Last weekend, an issue with food quality arose as an employee was filmed urinating at his work station during the production process at the company's packaging plant in Smithfield, VA.
As a result, the company has discarded more than 50,000 pounds of product and the employee has been suspended. According to company spokeswoman Lisa Martin, the peeing problem was an isolated incident and the company has taken the appropriate measures to ensure product quality.
Footage of the alleged incident reported by WAVY shows the worker moving products onto a conveyor belt when he takes off his gloves, and allegedly relieves himself. What I don't understand is why the worker took off his gloves.
Smithfield is a $15 billion company responsible for about 54,000 jobs globally. This factory in particular has around 2,500 employees and reportedly produces bacon, sausage, pork and smoked meats.
According to the company, production at the facility was shut down and all of the equipment was sanitized multiple times before operations resumed. Smithfield is investigating the incident; the employee will remain suspended during the investigation; and Martin didn't elaborate on the specific meat product that was subjected to the alleged micturating.
The guy took a 5-second leak and the company had to destroy 50,000 pounds of product, not a good career choice man.
The employee has not yet been identified.
UPDATE: IEN reached out to Smithfield, and the company submitted the statement below:
Smithfield Foods’ Statement Regarding Isolated Incident at Facility in Smithfield, Virginia
SMITHFIELD, Va., October 16, 2018 — Smithfield Foods, Inc. has swiftly taken steps to ensure the safety and quality of its products following an isolated incident involving an employee at its processing facility in Smithfield, Virginia. In accordance with Smithfield’s food safety and quality standards, more than 50,000 pounds of product were disposed of following an initial internal investigation that revealed an employee allegedly urinated at his station during the production process. The facility immediately halted production, fully cleaned the processing line, and sanitized all equipment multiple times before resuming operations. The employee has been suspended pending a complete investigation.
The facility and its employees’ immediate response and corrective actions to this isolated incident reflect the company’s commitment to ensuring the safety and quality of its products. The safety and quality of our foods is fundamental to our success as a company, underscoring our mission to provide “Good food. Responsibly.®”
