Cornerstone Processing, LLC: Non-Compliance to Poultry Good Commercial Practices in 2022 (USDA)

381.65(b)

On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, between approximately 10:02 to 10:22 am, while observing good commercial practices at Cornerstone Processing, birds were not slaughtered in accordance with the regulatory requirements for good commercial practices. I observed that birds exiting the stunner were able to freely move their heads and body, showing full consciousness. As a result, many of the birds avoided the kill station or did not receive an effective kill cut by the automatic kill machine as designed. Counting the ratio of birds avoiding the kill station and those that received the kill cut, I found that approximately 40% of the birds on the production line were conscious when exiting the stunner. Stunning is a required production step in the establishment’s Slaughter HACCP plan and part of their written GCP program. A backup Killer was having to guide the heads into the kill machine so they could be slaughtered. The number of birds were overwhelming this person’s ability to guide the heads into the machine for an effective cut. The backup killer was stationed immediately behind the kill equipment but was obviously being overwhelmed and could not work fast enough to perform an effective kill cut on all the birds that missed the mechanical kill station. The plant's solution was to add another back-up killer at various points in the bleed-out line. One backup killer moved to a point just prior to the scalder and was cutting the necks of conscious birds just prior to them entering the scalder. I observed five birds that were still conscious and had not received a kill cut. These birds were shown to REDACTED the back dock supervisor. The 5 birds were removed from the line prior to the scalder. Additionally, Dr. REDACTED observed two more birds during this time frame, one entered the scalder showing signs of full conscious, the second bird was removed by REDACTED the back dock supervisor when informed of the live birds. If FSIS had not intervened, all these birds would have entered the scalder and died by means other than slaughter. Drs. REDACTED and REDACTED observed three additional live birds that had passed all the establishment’s interventions on the kill line approaching the scald vat that were live, heads lifted, blinking, looking from side to side, and had no cut to the neck. The establishment was informed of these additional live birds. The line was stopped by FSIS due to the stunner not working properly and the process being out of control. Corrective action was taken by the plant. They made some adjustments on the stunner and added more water so the birds would be submerged in water enough to ensure proper stunning of the birds. Corrective actions were acceptable, and the establishment started back killing birds. The establishment documented on their Animal Welfare Monitoring Hourly Checklist, at 1008, the following: Kill Room: Acceptable Stunner Efficiency > 98%: Acceptable No live birds entering the scalder: Acceptable The establishment failed to identify the loss of process control during the same time that FSIS personnel identified a loss of process control. The establishment failed to meet the requirements of regulation 9 CFR 381.65(b). This noncompliance record is being associated with CLE0310105720N- 1 from October 20, 2021, for similar loss of process control of the establishment’s good commercial practices that resulted in the noncompliance of 9 CFR 381.65(b).

381.65(b)

On Tuesday, October 19th, at approximately 1159 hours, while observing good commercial practices at Cornerstone Processing, it was observed that birds were not being slaughtered in accordance with the regulatory requirements for good commercial practices. Four birds raised their heads up out the water while going through the stunner. As the birds exited the stunner, they were able to freely move their heads and body, indicating full consciousness in the brief period I was observing the stun and kill process. I observed two (2) birds immediately prior to the scalder that had not received a kill cut and were fully conscious. If I had not stopped the kill line, the birds would have entered the scalder and died of means other than slaughter. I notified a back dock employee who removed the live birds from the line. I observed two additional birds exiting the blood trough area without receiving a kill cut. The backup killer cut the birds throats, but the birds were still conscious when they entered the scalder due to them not having time to bleed out. I took regulatory control of the kill line with U.S. retain/reject tag #B45297057. Corrective action given by REDACTED included the electrician checking the stunner. He was also going to find out what the backup killer was doing when the birds got by him. Plant Manager REDACTED was notified of the noncompliance. The establishment failed to meet the requirement of regulation 9 CFR 381.65(b) This NR is associated to NR# CLE5812105514NN issued on October 12 due to the failure of their GCP procedure.

381.65(b)

On Tuesday, October 12th, between approximately 0652 hours to 0803 hours, while observing good commercial practices at Cornerstone Processing, birds were not slaughtered in accordance with the regulatory requirements for good commercial practices. Birds exiting the stunner were able to freely move their heads and body, showing full consciousness. While the establishment was working to correct the stunner, birds continued to move through a nonfunctioning stunner. An employee was placed on the line to pull the bird’s head down for effective entry into the kill machine due to being overwhelmed by the number of fully conscious birds. Backup killers were stationed immediately behind the kill equipment and a third individual was stationed at the blood trough. Even with three kill stations, I found three (3) birds that had not received a kill cut and were still conscious immediately prior to the scalder in the brief period I was observing the stun and kill process while performing my GCP task. This is the violation of 9 CFR 381.65 (b) The three conscious birds I observed at the entrance to the scald tank were shown to Plant Manager REDACTED. If FSIS had not intervened, these birds would have entered the scalder and died by means other than slaughter. Plant Manager REDACTED was notified of the noncompliance. The establishment failed to meet the requirements of regulation 9 CFR 381.65(b).

381.65(b)

On Tuesday, October 5th, between approximately 10:20 to 10:50 am, while observing good commercial practices at Cornerstone Processing, birds were not slaughtered in accordance with the regulatory requirements for good commercial practices. Birds exiting the stunner were able to freely move their heads and body, showing full consciousness. As a result, many of the birds avoided the kill station or did not receive an effective kill cut by the automatic kill machine as designed. Counting the ratio of birds avoiding the kill station and those that received the kill cut, I found that approximately 90% of the birds on the production line were conscious and able to avoid the automatic kill machine. A backup killer was stationed immediately behind the kill equipment but was obviously overwhelmed and could not work fast enough to perform an effective kill cut on all the birds missing the kill station. The plant's solution was to add more back-up killers at various points along the bleed-out line. One backup killer moved to a point just prior to the scalder and was cutting the necks of conscious birds just prior to them entering the scalder. After the last back-up killer, I observed six (6) birds that were still conscious and had not received a kill cut. These birds were shown to the backup killer by FSIS. If FSIS had not intervened, these birds would have entered the scalder and died by means other than slaughter. The line was stopped two times during this time frame. The plant made some adjustments and continued to try and slaughter birds. While the line was stopped, the birds in the stunner were submerged in water that completely covered their heads. Many of the birds in the stunner attempted to raise their heads above the water line. Other birds in the stunner showed labored breathing and signs of distress. After starting the line back, several birds that exited the stunner were observed to be no longer moving or breathing with a flaccid body because they had drowned. This shows the birds died by means other than slaughter. After these observations, the establishment was notified to stop hanging birds until they could make sufficient repairs and give appropriate corrective actions for the noncompliance. Plant Manager REDACTED and Food Safety Coordinator REDACTED were both notified of the noncompliance. Consumer Safety Inspector REDACTED was instructed to take a regulatory control action and reject the live hanging area. She applied US Reject Tag #B45248770 at 10:47 am. The establishment failed to meet the requirements of regulation 9 CFR 381.65(b).