Smithfield Foods to Temporarily Close Illinois Pork Processing Plant
Monmouth plant produces 3% of fresh pork products in the U.S. including bacon.
Smithfield Foods will suspend operations at its Monmouth, Illinois, facility beginning next week and until further notice after a small portion of its 1,700 employees tested positive for COVID-19. The Monmouth plant represents approximately 3% of U.S. fresh pork supplies and also produces bacon. Employees will be paid during the closure.
Smithfield noted that it has been proactively and aggressively tackling COVID-19 by implementing processes, protocols and protective measures throughout its operations and remains wholly committed to doing everything in its power to help protect its team members from COVID-19 in the workplace. At the same time, it stressed that the inherent nature of meat processing, which is labor intensive, assembly line style production, makes social distancing particularly challenging.