If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, right? While most of the sanitizers employed in meat and poultry facilities have been effectively used for decades, concerns remain over their toxicity to employees and the environment. Are new sanitizers on the horizon?
The sanitizers used to keep meat and poultry plants free of foodborne diseases are necessarily harsh, and also dangerous at times. In 2013, Tyson Foods settled with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that the company was violating various regulations related to anhydrous ammonia at its plants from 2006 to 2010, and injuring more than a dozen employees by exposing them to dangerous levels of ammonia.