This is scary — and not Halloween scary. A Smithfield Foods factory employee was caught, on tape, urinating on the production line. While in the middle of handling pork and pig headed to supermarkets around the globe, the employee, ungloved, peed under the conveyer belt, put his gloves back on, and got back to work. We wish we were kidding.
The urinating incident resulted in 50,000 pounds of pork-related product being trashed. That number is reportedly equal to 350 individual hogs and a whopping $190,000 loss for Smithfield Foods.
On Tuesday, October 16th, Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest producer of pig meat, confirmed the incident happened and stated it was an isolated incident. Local news outlet WAVY obtained a statement from the pork supplier, which read,
“In accordance with Smithfield’s food safety and quality standards, more than 50,000 pounds of product were disposed of following a swift internal investigation that revealed an employee had 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.”
A spokesperson told WAVY that Smithfield’s swift actions “reflect the company’s commitment to ensuring the safety and quality of its products.” The employee in question has been suspended while the company awaits the results of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s internal investigation.
So gross! I also hate the thought of all the animal lives wasted & wasted food because some guy decided he needed to relieve himself on the line. That sucks. https://t.co/5MOignrUk0 @WTKR3
— Anthony Sabella (@AnthonyWTKR) October 17, 2018
As concerning as this incident is, it may point to a larger issue within the meat processing industry. According to a 2016 Oxfam America report, a high percentage of workers in poultry plants reported being unable to take necessary bathroom breaks due to their supervisors demand for fast production.
Even more shocking — the study found that some poultry plant workers are Forced to wear diapers while on the line.
Poultry workers wear diapers because they don't get time to go the bathroom | by @jamieson https://t.co/5XEUHpuIPg pic.twitter.com/zhYaMp5DN1
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) May 14, 2016
The working conditions at Smithfield Foods have yet to be reported on. But for the sake of the workers and the consumers, we hope this single peeing problem was just a fluke.
