USDA

iiim

United States Department of Agriculture

Office of Field Operations

Food Safety and lnspection Service

Chicago District Office 191 9 S. Highland Avenue Suite # I !SC Lombard, IL 60 148

FACSIMILE COPY PROVIDED AND DELIVERED BY COURIER

September 23, 2013

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Rantoul Foods, LLC, Establishment M3 l 559 205 Turner Drive Rantoul, IL 61886
NOTICE OF SUSPENSION REVISED

(b) Dear-

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This letter confirms the September 20, 2013, verbal notification provided to you by Dr. Kamai I Mudahar, Deputy District Manager, of the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) decision to suspend the assigrunent of inspectors at your establislunent M3 l 559, Rantoul Foods, LLC, in Rantoul, IL. This includes the slaughter inspection at your establishment. This action was initiated, in accordance with Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations (9 CFR) 500.3(b). This action was taken because of your establishment's inability to effectively implement humane methods of slaughtering and handling of animals under the Acts, as outlined below, and in a manner that complies with FSIS regulatory requirements. This was evident by FSIS' findings that your establishment failed to comply with the requirements of9 CFR 3 13.15 (a) 1and313.15 (a) (3).
Background I Authority

The Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 603 sec. 3. (b) states, "for the purpose of preventing the inhumane slaughtering of livestock, the Secretary shall cause to be made, by inspectors appointed for that purpose, an examination and inspection of the method by which cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines are slaughtered and handled in connection with slaughter in the slaughtering establishments inspected under this Act. The Secretary may refuse to provide inspection to a new slaughtering establishment or may cause inspection to be temporarily suspended at a slaughtering establishment if the Secretary finds that any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines have been slaughtered or handled in connection with slaughter at such establislunent by any method not in accordance with Sections 190 l to 1906 of Title 7 until the establishment furnishes assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that all slaughtering and handling in connection with slaughter of livestock shall be in accordance with such a method." In addition, under prohibited acts 21 U.S.C. 610 sec 10 (b), ''No person, firm or corporation shall, with the respect to any cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, and other equines, or any carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat food products of any such animals slaughter or handle in connection with slaughter any such animals in any manner not in accordance with sections 1901to1906 ofTitle 7."

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Est. M3 I 559. Rantoul Foods. LLC NOS Revised Page 3 of5

A market hog was not sufficiently stunned to ensure immediate unconsciousness. The captive bolt operator failed to correctl y stun the animal in such a manner to render the hog unconscious with a minimum of excitement and discomfo1t. Allowing thi s animal to remain conscious after stunning was egregiously inhumane. Your establ ishment was issued a otice of Intended Enforcement (NOIE) on March 28, 20 12, for failure to handle animals humanely, in accordance wi th 9 CFR 3l3.2(f) and 313.30(a)( l ). In your proffered corrective actions, you committed to zero to lerance in humane handling. Your cutTent system was designed to restrain the animals and have the captive bolt placed securely on the pig's forehead. Your "Capti ve Bolt Gun Maintenance" record showed that you have serviced gun # l on September 13, 2013. FSIS Directive 6900.2 Revision 2, "Humane Handling and S laughter of Livestock," states that an egregious event may be subject to enforcement discretion and the establishment issued a Notice of Intended Enforcement (NOIE) rather than a otice of S uspension (NOS), if the establishrnent: l. Does not have any recent humane handling related enforcement actions; 2. Has consistently been meeting the humane handling regulatory requirements; 3. Has been operating under a w1itten animal handling program that establishment management has proffered as a robust systematic approach and made accessible to lPP ; and 4. Has demonstrated the robustness of the program to IPP by effecti vely and consistently implementing all aspects of its program. Your finn does not have a robust systematic approach to humane handling and slaughter in place as described in FSIS Directive 6900.2 Rev. 2. Therefore, a Notice of Suspension rather than a l otice of Intended Enforcement Action is being issued because your finn has not implemented a robust systematic approach to humane handling at your faci lity. A N OS is warranted in accordance with 9 CFR 500.3(b), "FS lS also may impose a suspension w ithout providing the establislunent prior notification because the establislunent is handling or slaughtering animals inhumanely". This was demonstrated by your failure to properly restrain and stun the animal to render him unconscious causing him to suffer pain until your employee reloaded the gun and issued a final shot to the animal rendering it insensible.

Svstematic Approach to Humane Handling

(b) (7)(C) and As di scussed with you today following the receipt of your corrective action at 2:30 pm,Dr. Mudahar provided you with guidance of the inadequacy of your response. On September 9, 2004, FSIS published, in the Federal Register Notice (54 Fed. Reg. 54625), a document titled, " Humane Hand ling and S laughter Requirements and the Merits of a Systematic Approach to Meet Such Requirements." A systematic approach to humane handling is comprised of the fo llowing components.
l. Conduct an initial assessment of where, and und er what circumstances, li vestock may experience excitement, di scomfort, or accidental injury while being handled in connection with slaughter, and of where, and under what circumstances, stunning problems may occur; 2. Design facilities and implement practices that will minimize excitement, discomfort, and accidental injury to li vestock;

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3. Evaluate periodically the handling methods the establishment employs to ensure that those methods minimize excitement discomfort, or accidental injury and evaluate those stunning methods period ically to ensure that al l li vestock are rendered insensible to pain by a single blow; iate. by addressing problems immed iately and by 4. Respond to the evaluations, as approp1 improving those practices and mod ifying facilities when necessary to minimize excitement, discomfoti, and accidental injury to li vestock. In order for slaughter inspection to resume at your establi shment, your finn must subm it corrective actions, to my attention, which address the fo llow ing: 1. Identify the specific reason(s) why the events described occutTed; 2. Describe the specific action(s) that will be taken to eliminate the cause of the incident and prevent future recuffences; and 3. Describe specifically the future monitoring activity (ies) that your estab lishment will use to ensure that the actions taken are effective. Your company may appeal this action by contacting: Dr. Keith Gilmore Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations USDA, FSIS, OFO 2 10 Walnut Street Room 923 Des Moines, IA 50309 Telephone;(5 l 5) 727-8907 or (785) 766-9830 In add ition, your company may request a hearing regarding this determination pursuant to the FSIS Rules of Practice, 9 CFR 500. Rules of Practice were pub lished in the Federal Register Vol. 64, No. 228 on ovember 28 , 2003. As specified in 9 CFR 500.5, should your company request a hearing, FSIS will file a complaint that will include a request for an expedited hearing. If your company wishes to request a hearing regarding this dete1minatio n, it should contact: Director Enforcement and Litigatio n Di vision Office of In vestigation, Enforcement and Audit Food Safety and Inspection Service United States Department of Agricu lture Stop Code 3753, PP3, C ubicle 8-2 1OC 355 E. Street SW Washington, DC 20024-3 22 1 Telephone: (202) 418-8872 Fax: (202) 245-5097

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Sincerely,

~ r. Paul V. Wolseley

~J~

District Manager Chicago District Office