The company said in federal court documents that investigators have seized its main bank account and business records under search warrants executed last month.

The meatpacking industry hopes federal inspectors would be exempt from furloughs if the government shuts down.

It has been a little over 40 years since Congress passed the Wholesome Meat Act, the major amendments to the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on December 15, 1967.