Major U. S. meat corporations U. S. companies knew their businesses were hotbeds of coronavirus transmission, but exaggerated by causing a close shortage of products, so it’s possible they’ll only keep staff at the height of the pandemic, according to an investigation by a House committee.
They also emphasized that the White House and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. U. S. governments minimize coronavirus protection measures in the industry, according to the report, which was released Thursday through the bipartisan House Select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis.
Meat processing sites have been a major source of coronavirus outbreaks, triggering a wave of lawsuits. This is largely due to a lack of protective procedures, such as social distancing and the inability of staff to work from home.
The report focused on five of the largest U. S. meatpacking corporations. USA: Tyson Foods, JBS, Smithfield Foods, Cargill and National Beef Packing Company. In the first year of the pandemic, more than 59,000 in those corporations became inflamed with the coronavirus and in at least 269 died, the committee said.
The report mainly points out how meat packaging executives would have been aware of the main risks of coronavirus transmission within their factories.
For example, a doctor at a hospital near the JBS remedies plant in Cactus, Texas, emailed a JBS executive on April 18, 2020, saying that “100% of all COVID-19 patients we have in the hospital are direct workers or circle of family members of their workers. “
“I’m not sure this scenario is being treated with the urgency it deserves,” the doctor continued. “Their workers will have health problems and may die if this factory remains open. “
Despite knowledge of outbreaks at some sites, meatpacking companies continued to push for their staff to remain in their posts. In the report, the committee rejected claims that there would be meat shortages if the sites closed, calling them “weak, if not completely false. “He also said it is “an attempt to justify the operation of meatpacking plants in dangerous conditions. “
Smithfield CEO Ken Sullivan said in April 2020 that the shutdown of meat packaging services “was dangerously pushing our country to the limit in terms of meat supply. It’s to keep our grocery retail outlets stocked if our factories don’t work. “
But an executive at the North American Meat Institute said in an email released in the committee’s report that Sullivan was “intentionally scaring people. “lots of meat,” adding enough for export.
“Smithfield has plunged everyone into a frenzy,” he added.
Reports from meatpacking companies about reducing shortages seemed to come as companies increased their exports. Pork exports to China have more than quadrupled in this period, according to the knowledge.
“The meat production formula is a fashionable marvel, but it can’t be redirected in a jiffy,” a Smithfield spokesperson told Insider. “That’s the challenge we faced when restaurants closed, consumption patterns changed, and pigs found themselves on farms with nowhere to go. The considerations we expressed were very genuine and we are grateful that a food crisis has been averted and that we are beginning to return to normal. “
The report also described how the meat packaging industry “actively worked to tame its very close relationship with the USDA” at the beginning of the pandemic with the goal of minimizing coronavirus protection measures in the industry. This included the USDA’s Undersecretary of Food Safety under normal conditions communicating with industry representatives and lobbyists, either through his private and government phone and email, according to the report.
The USDA and meatpacking companies have also jointly lobbied the White House to deter staff from staying home or leaving the pandemic.
“Meatpacking companies have engaged in a concerted effort with Trump management lawmakers to insulate themselves from coronavirus surveillance, to force staff to continue working in unsafe conditions and for themselves from any legal liability in the event of a worker’s illness or death as a result. “, the committee wrote.
Smithfield’s spokesperson told Insider that the company had “exceeded CDC and OSHA guidelines” and paid staff to stay ahead of the pandemic.
“The content of the report is deeply troubling and many of the decisions made through the previous administration are not in line with our values,” a USDA spokesperson told Insider. “This administration is committed to ensuring food protection, the sustainability of the meat and poultry sector and working with our government partners to protect staff and ensure that their fitness and protection get the priority they deserve. “