cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/53152091
Following an anonymous complaint in February, OSHA inspected the plant and fined Smithfield Foods $9,931.60 after observing workers’ exposure to “amputation hazards.” This was preceded by serious citations in 2021, 2023, and 2025.
Working in a slaughterhouse is extremely dangerous. In the US, there are approximately two amputations per week, primarily due to the industry’s poor working conditions and excessively fast pace.
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As reported by KWQC, the leaders also acknowledged “community concerns” over a backlog of rendering material – animal waste, internal organs, and decaying meat – being stored outside the plant, causing a strong, unpleasant smell in the city.
Oh - my buddy used to work overnights at a food processing plant in the summers to afford university… His job, take all the bread that came back from the grocery stores, rip the bags open and throw them in the hopper of the industrial toaster that started the breadcrumb process.
Not to say all the bread was moldy, but plenty was… It was the bread that came back that didn’t sell before their expiry… My buddy would describe a lot of what he’d throw in had a rainbow of mold colors on it.