A few weeks ago, I was invited by Meat from Europe—an organization promoting European Union meat products within the EU and abroad—and the Union of Producers and Employers of Meat Industry (UPEMI) to visit Poland and two of its meat processing facilities: one dedicated to beef, the other primarily pork. 

New poultry producer Pure Prairie Farms has completed the purchase of a former Simply Essentials chicken processing plant in Charles City, Iowa. The plant, which previously closed in August of 2019, is a state-of-the-art retail tray-packaging facility and features air-chill technology. The plant is scheduled to be fully operational by spring of 2022.

Préval AG, an international agri-food company headquartered in Quebec, has acquired the assets of J&G Foods, located in Sutton, Massachusetts. J&G is a custom and specialty case-ready fresh meat provider specializing in portioned organic and grass-fed beef, organic and natural chicken, natural pork and beef, and a variety of marinated and value-added meats.

Lakeside Foods, a leading frozen and canned foods manufacturer, is purchasing Cher-Make Sausage Co., a 93-year-old sausage maker that produces summer sausage, hot dogs, ring bologna and bratwurst at its Manitowoc-based plant in Wisconsin. The deal is set to close on 9/27/21.

Whether Fido’s food is made from all plant-based ingredients, a flexitarian’s mix of plant- and animal-derived ingredients, insect-based or with lab-grown meat, processors and those who supply the equipment to make non-traditional pet food have their work cut out for them.

The USDA releases a plan to reduce Salmonella infections from meat, poultry and eggs.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has signed an alliance with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) to provide information, guidance and access to training resources for protecting workers in the meatpacking and processing industry from exposures to the coronavirus.

Conagra Brands Inc. expanded a recall of Healthy Choice bowls after more complaints about small rocks in the frozen meals, withdrawing about 275,000 pounds of product in this round.