Gold'n Plump Worker Charged with Deliberately Tainting Chicken

Court documents allege the 36-year-old worker smuggled in sand and dirt from the parking lot.

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) — A woman is facing charges for allegedly using dirt to contaminate chicken while working at a Minnesota processing plant.

Prosecutors allege Faye Slye contaminated chicken at the Gold'n Plump plant in Cold Spring in June, shortly before the plant's owner recalled 27 tons of chicken for an "isolated product tampering incident" at the plant.

The 36-year-old Slye is charged with felony criminal damage to property. Cold Spring's police chief says the case led to the recall.

Court records don't indicate Slye has an attorney. Her home phone number isn't publicly listed.

WJON-AM reports that court documents allege Slye smuggled in sand and dirt from the parking lot. Another worker alerted authorities to dirty chicken in June. A second incident happened the next day.

Most of the recalled meat included items sold through foodservice and institutional outlets.

More in Safety