Koch Foods, LLC: Non-Compliance to Poultry Good Commercial Practices in 2021 (USDA)
See the detail of the non-compliance of poultry good commercial practices that the USDA observed at the Koch Foods, LLC poultry establishment in 2021.
You can also see other establishments that were non-compliant in 2021.
381.65(b)
On 3rd shift the night of May 25, 2021 at approximately 0015 hours while performing the Good Commercial Practices verification task, I, REDACTED DVM, observed 24 live birds enter the scalder on the REDACTED line. All of these birds were alive and uncut with heads up and blinking as they entered the scalder. There was no plant attendant monitoring the lines before the scalder. The first 3 birds entered the scalder at 0015, the second group of 4 at 0017 and then they continued until 0024 when I went to the cutter and there was no back up cutter at the station. I proceeded to live hang and had the live hang supervisor stop hanging birds. I tagged out the line with US Reject tag #B37111001. There was no one in the area with a radio so I found night shift plant manager Johnny Sanders and informed him of the situation. I explained that the process was out of control and that live hang was tagged out and that a GCP non-compliance would be issued. I also informed him that a repeat GCP NR failure tonight, of the same root cause, would require District Management’s approval, for removal of the tag. Supervisor REDACTED came to explain the events leading up to the loss of process control and the GCP violations. The line had been stopped for repairs to a broken shackle and live hang and slaughter personnel were given a break. When the repairs were completed, they started the line to remove the birds still on the line. Live hang personnel began hanging birds again before the attendant and back up cutter returned from break. The plant response was to add an additional back up cutter to the REDACTED line and make sure that the attendant only monitors the line before the scalder. They checked the salinity and voltage of the stunner. They will not allow the back up cutter to leave the line during breaks without a replacement. They will provide additional training to personnel and supervision in this area. I removed the tag after all of these measures were in place and continued to monitor throughout the evening. A follow-up verification check revealed no additional GCP deficiencies.
