Inspectors warned of violations at Wampler Foods before listeria outbreak

November 5, 2002

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Inspectors warned of violations before listeria outbreak

Sunday, November 3, 2002 Posted: 4:39 PM EST (2139 GMT)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Inspectors had warned a food plant of

numerous sanitation violations months before a deadly listeria outbreak was

linked to the facility, but little was done to fix the problems, a newspaper

said Sunday.

Moldy pipes, food particles left on conveyor belts, water leaking onto meat

and a cockroach found in a locker were among dozens of problems the U.S.

Department of Agriculture found at the suburban Wampler Foods plant,

according to inspection documents obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Despite being cited for violations more than 40 times since January,

" corrective actions were either not implemented or ineffective, " the USDA

records said.

The plant closed Oct. 12 after officials identified it as a source of a

listeria outbreak blamed for at least seven deaths and dozens of illnesses.

Wampler's parent company, Pilgrim's Pride, recalled more than 27 million

pounds of turkey and chicken, the biggest meat recall in U.S. history.

Wampler spokesman Dunlap said there was no " systematic problem " with

the plant and said that before the recall the USDA hadn't considered any of

the violations cited in the records serious enough to close the factory.

Among violations cited by the USDA were meat residue from the previous day's

production found in processing areas, " grease and brown-black buildup " on

conveyor surfaces, and clear liquid and " black foreign particles " draining

into frozen meat.

USDA inspectors are on site daily at all 6,400 meat-processing plants in the

United States, but some consumer advocates have warned that regulatory

changes in 1998 took away their enforcement powers.

Larry Berman, a USDA food inspector in Albany, New York, said problems

similar to those found at Wampler occur throughout the industry.

" If you look at all the recalls, you'll see the same story: Enforcement is

substandard, and the plants are not living up to the responsibility of

policing themselves, " Berman told the Inquirer.

On Saturday, the USDA said another meat processing company, Jack Lambersky

Poultry Co. Inc., in Camden, New Jersey, was recalling 200,000 pounds of

ready-to-eat chicken and turkey sold nationwide and possibly linked to the

listeria outbreak.

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