Wampler Reopens Plant 

CHRIS HARRIS / Meat News 14oct02

US poultry plant closed after listeria scare gets back to business.

Wampler Foods, part of the Pilgrim's Pride poultry processing group in the USA, has announced that the company is to restart work at the Franconia, Pennsylvania, plant, which was closed down following a recent major product recall over listeria.

The company asked employees to return to work from Wednesday, 13 November evening shift. Full production of the facility's core product lines began that night.

A company spokesman said: "In order to most effectively serve our customers, the plant will be operating on an accelerated schedule to build inventories of our core product lines: fully-cooked deli breasts, smoked and cured products, ready-to-cook roasts and deli salads.

"We voluntarily initiated the suspension of operations last month even though no illnesses associated with the Listeria strain in the Northeastern U.S. outbreak have been linked to any Wampler products.

"We have cooperated fully with USDA and its Food Safety and Inspection Service as well as other governmental agencies to review our safety and quality procedures and enhance our Listeria Monitoring Programme.

"Through intensive efforts over the last four weeks, we have redoubled our safety and sanitation efforts at the Franconia plant to include: additional training for employees in good manufacturing processes, food safety and personal hygiene; establishing new and improved methods for cleaning; engaging the expertise of outside consultants and working closely with those highly regarded experts to re-affirm our procedures; and conducting microbial testing utilizing an independent, certified laboratory.

"We believe that our actions demonstrate the utmost responsibility, as well as our great concern for consumer health and peace of mind. To that end, we will continue to fully and completely cooperate with the USDA and its Food Safety and Inspection Service to assist in any way we can."