Calif. meat producer closed by federal inspectors
A Central California slaughterhouse that supplies beef to the National School Lunch Program has been closed by federal inspectors after failing to meet cleanliness standards.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement Tuesday that it withdrew inspectors and suspended operations at Central Valley Meat Co. in Hanford, Calif., due to unsanitary conditions.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the same facility was closed for a week in 2012 after animal rights group Compassion Over Killing submitted videos to the USDA showing workers torturing cows with electric prods.
In a separate incident last September, the company recalled 58,000 pounds of beef destined for school lunches after the USDA said it may have contained small pieces of plastic.
