Production at JBS’ Nebraska plant resumes after E. coli cleanup

The discovery of E. coli in beef from a JBS meatpacking plant suspended production, but a spokeswoman says operations resumed Friday after the plant was completely cleaned.

The plant in Grand Island, Neb. stopped production on Wednesday when the contaminated meat was discovered in a routine test by JBS employees. Tests showed some of the cattle brought to the plant had E.coli.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports Thursday’s processing schedule has been moved to Saturday. JBS spokeswoman Margaret McDonald said the plant is always testing.

JBS spokesman Chandler Keys told the Kearney Hub JBS “every bit of trim” meat in the plant is tested and there’s a process in place to rework and clean if a food safety concern occurs. Slaughter of incoming animals is stopped when E. coli is detected.

A tracking system can trace the contaminated meat, but JBS cleans and retreats all meat processed within a half-day of the positive test.

The contaminated meat did not reach consumers, therefore a recall was unnecessary.

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