Response to Dispatches Report

We’ve reviewed the undercover video shot by Dispatches and we want to point out that it is taken out of context. Much of it was videoed during break time or at the beginning of a sanitation shift. The video is not reflective of processing at this or any Tyson Foods facility. While we realize the imagery may not be appealing, we’ll point out it doesn’t represent the full scope of the food safety practices we have in place.  

Safe Food

Consumers everywhere should know our plants only operate in the continuous presence of U.S. government inspectors who, along with our own food safety staff, ensure we’re producing good food that’s safe to eat. We employ more than 2,000 food safety professionals and operate a Laboratory Services Network which is also involved in food safety testing and research.

Additionally:

• Our Center, Texas plant consistently rates well in USDA’s Salmonella Verification Testing Program, which monthly publishes data about all poultry processing plants.
• The majority of our plants do not use chlorine to produce food, although it is used to sanitize the facility. 
• We do use food-grade sprays or washes approved by the U.S. government and mixed with high volumes of water to help prevent the growth of bacteria.
• Our plants operate below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which also helps keep food safe.  

Workplace

We care deeply about the safety of our employees and consumers. In addition to safety training, we hold meetings daily within our production facilities to keep safety top of mind. We have a robust quality and safety program that includes training for new employees, continuous safety education and daily meetings at our facilities to keep safety top of mind. Employees are encouraged to report any workplace safety concerns to their supervisor, a member of management or our compliance and ethics hotline. 

Additionally:

• As outlined in our Sustainability Report, our total recordable incident rate has decreased for the past three consecutive fiscal years as the result of evolving our approach to health and safety to one that incorporates behavior and engineering-based components.
• Hourly team members are actively engaged in safety committees,  at all of our poultry plants, they not only provide a better perspective, but also a voice to help us continually improve our safety programs and processes.  We do not tolerate the refusal of requests to use the restroom.
• We have a Team Member Bill of Rights that recognizes our workers’ rights to adequate break time.
• We have regular work breaks and also allow workers to leave the line if they need to use the restroom.