Lincoln, NE - The indictments of the former Hudson Foods Inc. and two employees on charges related to a meat recall last year won't dramatically affect the cattle market or the way meat is processed, meat industry officials say.
“The Hudson story has already been played out on the market,” said Chuck Levitt, a senior livestock analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. of Chicago. He said the indictments should have little effect on demand for beef.
“We don't get much reaction from those kind of stories any more,” he said.
A federal grand jury in Omaha on Wednesday indicted Hudson Foods Inc. and two employees on charges they lied to regulators about the quantity of meat that may have been tainted with the potentially deadly bacteria. In all, 25 million pounds of beef were recalled last year.
Beef fell slightly out of favor following the recall last year, but demand rebounded quickly, Levitt said.
Meat processed at the Hudson plant in Columbus, Neb., was linked to an outbreak of E. coli contamination in July 1997 that affected 15 people in Colorado and one in Kentucky. The recall closed the plant, which was later sold to IBP Inc. of Dakota City.
After the recall, Hudson Foods was merged into longtime rival Tyson Foods in a $632 million deal. Tyson plans to eventually phase out the Hudson brand.
Sallie Atkins, executive director of the Nebraska Beef Council in Kearney, said she does not think the indictments will send any new message to the beef industry.
“Our priority has been safety,” she said.
There have been some changes in beef processing since the Hudson incident, said Rosemary Mucklow, executive director of the National Meat Institute in Oakland, Calif. The practice of reusing meat from a previous day's production has been all but eliminated from the nation's largest plants, she said.
In addition, processing plants that employ more than 500 people implemented the USDA's Hazard Analysis, Critical Control Point program.
The HACCP program requires packers and slaughterhouses to identify each point in the meatpacking process where contamination could occur, such as cutting, grinding and overheating; develop steps to prevent it; and document.
Even with HACCP, protection against E. coli contamination is never foolproof.
“We can never be absolutely certain that it's not there,” Mucklow said.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
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