Officials at a California slaughterhouse shut down because of cruelty and food safety allegations said it has been given federal permission to reopen.
Central Valley Meat Co. announced Sunday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the Hanford plant's action plan and gave the OK to for workers to return on Monday.
"The USDA informed us that it has accepted our action plan and we are free to reopen," the company said in a statement on Sunday. "Central Valley Meat will resume operations Monday morning and welcome our employees back to work."
A telephone voice recording tells employees to report for work at 9 a.m. The plant employs about 450 people, the Fresno Bee (bit.ly/MVr6nI) reported.
In a statement released Monday, the USDA confirmed that its Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded its evaluation of the slaughterhouse's plan.
"As of this morning (Central Valley Meat) will be allowed to resume processing," the statement said. "The company has committed to a number of corrective actions including additional humane handling training for employees and safeguards to ensure that only ambulatory animals are processed."
The USDA suspended Central Valley Meat operations last week after an undercover video released by Washington, D.C.-based Compassion Over Killing, an animal welfare group, showed cows that appeared to be sick or lame being beaten, kicked, shot and shocked in an attempt to get them to walk to slaughter.
Central Valley Meat Co. primarily slaughters dairy cows that have lost their value as milk producers. The video and the shutdown prompted the USDA, McDonald's Corp. and In-N-Out Burger to suspend or cancel contracts with the company.
Last year, the USDA bought 21 million pounds of beef for more than $50 million from the company owned by Lawrence and Brian Coelho...
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Source: Argentine Beef Packers S.A.
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