Before tragedy, Foundation Food Group was looking to ‘start a new chapter’ Foundation Food Group at the Memorial Drive entrance. - photo by Scott Rogers
Foundation Food Group was fresh off a merger between two Hall County companies and looking “to start a new chapter” in its short history when tragedy struck on Thursday with the deaths of six workers due to a nitrogen leak.
“We’re excited to start a new chapter for Foundation Food Group, our customers, industry partners and our employees,” said Jerry Wilson, president and CEO of the poultry processing company, in a press release announcing the merger on the company’s website.
Representative image The plant was cited by OSHA in 2007 for failing to provide a distinctive alarm for ammonia release.
Several fire departments and a HAZMAT team responded to the Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Noel, MO on Wednesday morning after an ammonia leak was reported in the facility, local news organizations reported.
Crews were called to the Tyson Drive facility at about 6 a.m. and remained on scene until about 8 a.m., according to coverage by WWLP. Reports did not have any information available on possible injuries.
“The leak is isolated and contained, we are working to ventilate the building now,” fire officials told the news broadcaster at about 7 a.m.
A view of the Prime Pak Foods plant in Gainesville, GA. The statement includes new facts on the liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Foods Group poultry plant.
US Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) chairman and chief executive officer Katherine A. Lemos issued a statement Monday offering new details gleaned from the agency’s investigation of a fatal liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Foods Group poultry plant in Gainesville, GA last Thursday.
Six people died and a number of others were injured in the incident at the Prime-Pak Foods processing plant. The latest statement released by the CSB includes “key facts” that the agency has uncovered during its investigation.
Capitalist greed kills six poultry workers in Georgia
By Dianne Mathiowetz posted on February 1, 2021
Atlanta, Ga.
Jan. 31 Prior to Jan. 28, most of us were likely unaware of the death-rendering results of exposure to liquid nitrogen, including the low-wage workers at Foundation Food Group in Gainesville, Ga. It is used in food processing plants across the country to rapidly freeze products for shipping.
People gather on Jan. 30 for a vigil outside the plant in Gainesville, Ga., where six workers were killed in a liquid nitrogen leak.
Kept at −320° F, the odorless, colorless vapor is released in a confined space to flash freeze whatever it touches. In sufficient quantities, it can reduce the amount of oxygen in the air and cause asphyxiation.
Representative image Powder & Bulk Solids provides a roundup of the biggest food and beverage industry stories that were published this January.
The first month of 2021 was full of exciting and tragic news in the food and beverage industry. Six were fatally injured in a nitrogen leak at a poultry plant and a potato plant was destroyed by a fire. PepsiCo and Post Holdings made big steps into the plant-based meats space last month. We also showcased some of the internet’s best videos of food factory tours. Powder & Bulk Solids editors selected these posts to provide our audience with an overview of some of the most interesting food and beverage-related news that was reported in the last month.