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October 7, 2008 11:46:42 PM CDT

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Disgraced Meatpacker to Close Doors

Posted Feb 23, 08 12:34 PM CST in US,  Business 

(Newser) – The biggest meat recall in history will put a fork in Hallmark/Westland, the meatpacker’s general manager told the Wall Street Journal. “I don’t see any way we could reopen,” he said. The USDA has said the California company could reopen under the right conditions, but demands that it pay for the meat’s destruction and replacement. “If the USDA wants payment back, we’re dead meat. We’re done.”

The general manager describes the company, which was pulling in about $100 million in annual sales, as “a small private company” in “a low-profit-margin business.” Cash is especially tight because the meatpacker has been closed since the Humane Society aired a video showing workers mistreating cattle, and many customers have stopped payment on recalled meat. Even if it had the cash to reopen, the USDA demands significant changes.

Source Wall Street Journal

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Cattle carcases scraps are dropped into a parked truck at the Hallmark Meat Packing slaughterhouse in Chino, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008. Video footage showed workers at Hallmark Meat Packing repeatedly...   (Associated Press)
A worker throws a piece of meat among cattle carcass scraps dropped into a truck at the Hallmark Meat Packing slaughterhouse in Chino, Calif. in this Jan. 30, 2008 file photo. The U.S. Department of Agriculture...   (Associated Press)
This undated image provided by the Chino, Calif., Police Department shows a booking photograph of Westland/Hallmark Meat Co., employee, Jose Luis Sanchez, a suspect arrested in connection with the animal...   (Associated Press)
This police booking photo released by Chino, Calif., Police department Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, shows meatpacking worker Daniel Navarro after being arrested Saturday and charged with animal cruelty in...   (Associated Press)
A beef chuck roast is displayed in Philadelphia, in this April 13, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)   (Associated Press)
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animal cruelty  • USDA  • cows  • Humane Society  • beef recall  • Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.


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