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By <\/span>Michael Corkery<\/span><\/p>\n Smithfield Foods was one of the first companies to warn that the country was in danger of running out of meat as coronavirus infections ripped through processing plants in April 2020 and health officials pressured the industry to halt some production to protect workers.<\/p>\n Now, a lawsuit filed last week by Food and Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group, accuses the giant pork producer of falsely stoking consumer fears and misleading the public.<\/p>\n The suit says the nation was never in danger of running out of meat. It claims there were ample supplies in cold storage, while at the same time pork exports to China, in particular, were surging. The suit was filed in Superior Court in Washington, where a law allows a nonprofit group to sue on behalf of consumers without needing to show that they suffered direct harm.<\/p>\n \u201cThis fear mongering creates a revenue-generating feedback loop,\u201d Food and Water Watch said in its lawsuit. \u201cIt stokes and exploits consumer panic \u2014 juicing demand and sales \u2014 and in turn, provides the company with a false justification to keep its slaughterhouses operating at full tilt, subjecting its workers to unsafe workplace health and safety conditions that have caused thousands of Smithfield workers to contract the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n Smithfield defended its safety efforts while criticizing the consumer advocacy group. \u201cThe advocacy organizations who make these claims have a stated goal of dismantling the efforts of our hard-working employees, who take great pride in safely producing food products,\u201d Keira Lombardo, Smithfield\u2019s chief administrative officer, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The meatpacking industry was a flash point during the pandemic as thousands of workers fell ill, many of them fatally. Smithfield and other companies mounted an aggressive advertising campaign to highlight their worker safety efforts and to emphasize the industry\u2019s important role in feeding the nation.<\/p>\n Despite these assertions, Food and Water Watch, which is represented in its lawsuit by Public Justice, a legal advocacy group, points out that Smithfield was cited by regulators for failing to adequately protect workers at its plants in California and South Dakota.<\/p>\n In her statement, Ms. Lombardo said, \u201cOur health and safety measures, guided by medical and workplace safety expertise, have been comprehensive.\u201d<\/p>\nSite Index<\/h2>\n
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