Meat&Poultry - January 2012 - 12

Business Notes

Cargill to use HPP, resumes ground turkey processing
After the US Dept. of Agriculture approved an enhanced food-safety plan, ground turkey production has resumed at Cargill’s meat processing facility in Springdale, Ark. Cargill suspended ground turkey production at the plant after voluntary recalls in August and September of more than 36 million lbs. of ground turkey due to possible contamination from Salmonella Heidelberg. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said early in November a total of 136 persons were infected with a multi-state outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg reported from 34 states in recent months – and that this particular outbreak appeared to be over. A Cargill spokesman previously pointed out to Meat&Poultry a significant portion of these illnesses had not been linked to ground turkey. As a result of t he Springdale plant’s food-safety plan being approved, approximately 50 employees who were part of an early October, 130-person layoff have since returned to work at the plant. More than 70 people had already returned to work as job openings in other parts of the facility were made available. Cargill said its food-safety scientists have been exploring all possible solutions to reduce the risk from Salmonella in ground turkey during the last three months. “No stone has been left unturned as we searched for answers to help us improve food safety,” said Steve Willardsen, president of Cargill Value Added Meats Retail. As part of a multi-phase rampup of production at Springdale, one of four ground turkey production lines has been reactivated; the remaining lines will be reactivated in the near future. Cargill has initiated the following food-safety actions: • Underwent a complete reassessment and overhaul of the facility’s food-safety plan. • Implemented several new foodsafety measures, including more and better bacterial reduction steps throughout the process. • Created a three-phase ground turkey sampling and monitoring program, which the company said is the most rigorous in the industry. • Is now using high-pressure processing (HPP) to reduce Salmonella. • Developed an enhanced processcontrol monitoring system to ensure all parts of the company’s Salmonella control program are continuously generating the best possible results. The company said it feels a phased approach to resuming ground turkey production will ensure Cargill’s enhancements to its food-safety program are working as designed. ■

Farbest to build new turkey plant in Indiana
Turkey processor Farbest Foods Inc., based in Huntingburg, Ind., plans to build a new, 220,000-sq.-ft. processing plant on 100 acres near Vincennes, Ind., that is estimated to cost $69 million and be completed in January 2014. The new plant in southwestern Indiana could eventually employ up to 600 workers in the next few years, according to The Associated Press. The company currently employs approximately 850 workers at plants in nearby Huntingburg and Dubois. Farbest produces more than 10 milthe second shift of operations started in 2007,” said Ted Seger, president of the family owned business, in discussing plans for the new plant. The processor has already startlion turkeys per year with about 170 contract growers in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. “Our current facilities for turkey processing, feeding and growing are near full utilization after completing ed hiring engineering, administrative and maintenance workers for the new Vincennes plant. The new plant is initially expected to employ approximately 350 workers. More will be hired to work an anticipated second shift that will be added later. Farbest was offered up to $2.8 million in conditional tax credits and $200,000 in training grants as part of an incentive package by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. A property tax abatement request for the project was also approved by Knox County officials. ■

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Meat&Poultry - January 2012

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