Cargill's Beef Packers Plant Previously Cited Says AP

March 2008 inspection records show that USDA auditors found Beef Packer workers using electric prods to urge uncooperative cattle through a small chute that opened to the slaughterhouse. When three cows would not move, workers stunned the animals into unconsciousness “so that they could be pulled through the restrainer to be shackled, hung, and bled,” the records state.

The risk for pathogenic food poisoning, such as E. coli and Salmonella, increases when cattle are treated in such a way because the animals, when dragged, can pick up the dangerous germs from waste products that end up on their hides and can contaminate the chute and surrounding area, according to experts, said the AP. “All kinds of feces and urine get into those chutes because they typically aren’t cleaned out during the day because too many animals need to get in,” said Lester Friedlander, a former USDA veterinary inspector.

Cargill Meat Solutions appealed the alleged violations and the FSIS rescinded the citations, sending Beef Packers a so-called letter of concern, said the AP. Cargill Meat Solutions is the parent company of Beef Packers.