Earlier this month, Jackson, Mississippi-based Cal-Maine Foods Inc., recalled 24,000 dozen eggs purchased from Ohio Fresh Eggs LLC, of Croton, Ohio, over possible salmonella contamination.
After routine sampling, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified Cal-Maine that eggs tested positive for salmonella, spurring the immediate recall.
And now, a Humane Society video taken by an undercover investigator working at the Cal-Maine farm in Waelder, Texas, reveals rampant animal abuse and food-safety violations.
The video is very graphic; lots of dead birds, overcrowded cages, eggs covered in blood, poop, and broken eggs, and - as you can see in the screen capture - a dead bird lying on the conveyor belt as eggs roll by.
The Humane Society says Cal-Maine is the biggest egg producer in North America, and is been cited for infractions before. Previously Cal-Maine recalled 288,000 eggs after the FDA found salmonella enteritidis on test samples.
Other startling sights include, birds with no tail feathers, tumors on their faces, gnarled feet, and rotting corpses mixed in with live chickens.
With the release of the video, The Humane Society hopes to inform consumers about factory farming's dirty little - err, not so little - secrets.
Animal rights is a polarizing issue. The redneck says screw the animals, just eat them. The hippie says meat is murder. Both are idiotic. Killing people is murder, not cows. But you also can't call them dumb animals, heap them in a pile to fester in feces, and then think they're perfectly safe to eat.
Ignore all that blah-blah-blah for second. If we are going to factory farm livestock, we should at the very least do everything to ensure our farming practices protect consumers from ever getting sick - humans first, animals second. And no doubt, if we sure up factory farming to safeguard human health, the trickle-down effect will also improve the well-being of food animals.
As for Cal-Maine, I would fire every executive and bankrupt their personal finances to pay for the necessary improvements.
Image credit: The Human Society
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