Photos and documents allegedly from a “Beyond Meat” factory in Pennsylvania revealed the conditions the food is processed in, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The imitation meat company allegedly produced food riddled with Listeria on at least 11 occasions during the second half of last year and the first half of 2022, documents provided by a former employee stated, Bloomberg reported. Though Listeria is not too uncommon among food plants, it is distinctive that the deadly bacteria was found inside the products, the outlet noted.
The company allegedly found foreign materials such as string, metal, wood, and plastic in their meat alternative products, according to the photos and reports Bloomberg obtained. These materials had been found as late as December 2021.
Photos and internal documents from a Beyond Meat plant in Pennsylvania show apparent mold, Listeria and other food-safety issues, compounding problems at a factory the company had expected to play a major role in its future https://t.co/zZCgp4WQg6 pic.twitter.com/CdjeGR9EbK
— Bloomberg (@business) November 21, 2022
Wood apparently seeped its way into burgers in two A&W restaurants and Canadian Costcos in October 2021 and April 2022, according to the outlet. Metal, too, purportedly found its way into a bag of synthetic sausage patties sold at Dunkin’ in April 2021.
The company claimed, however, that the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture “found no instances of nonconformance with regulations,” in March and September, according to the outlet. The company spokesman also said that the department considered the company’s food-safety protocols to “go above and beyond industry and regulatory standard,” the outlet noted. (RELATED: REPORT: Man Gets Into Argument With Woman, Then Shoots Himself Twice In Front Of Over 100 People)
“If neat and tidy is 1 and filthy is 10, I’d put this at an 8,” food-safety attorney Bill Marler told Bloomberg after examining the photos.