On Thursday, April 16, 2020, Smithfield Foods announced the temporary closing of two of its plants. One plant is near Milwaukee, WI and the other is in Martin City, MO. This bulletin came from the Smithfield Foods Company main office, based in Smithfield, Virginia
Closures
The plant near Milwaukee will close for two weeks. The Facility in Missouri will close indefinitely. The Missouri plant receives raw material from its Sioux Falls, SD facility. That facility is currently closed. Five hundred eighteen employees in Sioux Falls have contracted the coronavirus. Another 126 came in contact with those individuals. Smithfield reported only a small number of employees at the Wisconsin and Missouri plants have tested positive for COVID-19. Of the 180 new cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota, eighty are employees in the Smithfield plant.
What Does Smithfield Foods Produce?
Smithfield Foods is a leader in processed meats. It is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. [1]Popular brands include Eckrich, Nathan’s Famous, Armour, Healthy Ones, and Farmer John’s. The business is known for bacon and ham.
Reopening?
The CDC team will tour the Smithfield plant and create a list of items to complete before the plant reopens. The facility is working with federal officials to get the plant back online.
Notes:
- ^https://www.smithfieldfoods.com/about-smithfield (go back ↩)
