Foster Farms temporarily put operations on hold at its Livingston chicken processing facility Sunday morning, in order to further expand U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved safe manufacturing procedures and monitoring systems.
“On behalf of my family, I made a commitment to making this right and we are taking every opportunity to ensure the long-term efficacy of our program at this plant,” said Foster Farms President Ron Foster. “We are confident in the preventative plan and want to take the time to properly implement new measures to our satisfaction.”
The Livingston plant was closed Jan. 8 for sanitization and treatment after USDA inspectors observed a cockroach during plant operations. The plant has been cited five times since September for roaches.
The USDA Food Safety Inspection Services had approved of sanitization and treatment measures undertaken during last week's closure, allowing the facility to resume production on Saturday. But now the company is voluntarily choosing to dedicate additional time to preventative measures, using the most effective technologies and treatments.
The company expects its latest closure to be brief but has not yet issued a definitive date for reopening and resuming operations. Livingston maintenance employees will remain working, but all other plant employees will be called back when the plant resumes operations.
“Foster Farms is a company that strives for excellence,” said Foster. “We will not resume operations until we are confident that we have the most stringent and effective treatment protocols in place."
According to Foster Farms, no other plants are affected but production will be temporarily shifted to the company’s other Central Valley plants.
Company officials also stated that no product, packaging, or line was in any way affected.
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