Zeeland, Mich - Federal inspectors have halted shipment of about 400,000 pounds of turkey meat after discovering serious sanitation problems at a West Michigan processing plant.
A USDA spokeswoman says the Sara Lee Corp.-owned Bil Mar Foods is the nation's 60th meat plant temporarily shuttered since tough, new sanitation rules took effect in January to protect Americans from E. coli and other bacteria.
About 1,100 of Bil Mar's 1,700 workers were idled indefinitely today until the company corrects unspecified food handling and condensation problems.
Inspectors say the deficiencies could cause bacterial contamination of meat products produced at Bil Mar. The plant's products include Mr. Turkey brand lunchmeat.
USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service spokeswoman Jacque (JA'-kee) Knight says turkey meat that's already left the plant is not affected. She says that meat poses no danger to consumers.
But Knight says the tons of meat inside the plant won't get a USDA stamp and can't be shipped until the problems have been solved.
Bil Mar spokeswoman Diane McNulty says the company is cooperating with the USDA, is taking steps to meet inspectors' demands and hopes to resume normal operations this week.
A turkey slaughterhouse in Storm Lake, Iowa, that supplies Bil Mar also has been forced to suspend operations.
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