An undercover video shot at Hormel Foods Corp.'s Austin pork supplier, Quality Pork Processors, shows treatment of pigs that is "completely unacceptable," according to federal meat inspectors.
The video was shot this year by the animal rights group Compassion Over Killing. It shows scenes from the killing floor at Quality Pork, which is next to Hormel's sprawling plant in Austin, wellspring of Spam and myriad other products.
The group turned the video over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is reviewing it.
"The actions depicted in the video under review are completely unacceptable, and if we can verify the video's authenticity, we will aggressively investigate the case and take appropriate action," the USDA said in a news statement.
Although USDA inspectors would have been at the plant, the actions depicted in the video occurred in a part of the plant that would likely have been out of their view, the agency said. "Had these actions been observed by the inspectors, they would have resulted in immediate regulatory action against the plant."
All U.S. meat plants, in order to get a federal seal of inspection, have USDA staff on site.
Quality Pork Processors is based in Dallas but supplies pork only to Hormel's Austin plant. "We have strict policies around the humane treatment of animals — it's a priority," said Nate Jansen, human resources vice president for Quality Pork in Austin.
Jansen said that two workers depicted in the video departed from the company's procedures. One employee cut an abscess from a pig and possibly contaminated meat from the animal. That task should done at another point in the production line where contamination won't occur, Jansen said. The worker's action was spotted by a supervisor before Quality Pork saw the animal rights video, he said. The worker was given a verbal warning.
