Cargill Meat Solutions

Cargill Meat Solutions is a subsidiary of Cargill Inc—a multi-generational family-owned and operated, multinational agribusiness giant. Cargill was America's Largest Private Company, with revenues of US$106.30 billion in 2008 and 151,500 employees, according to Forbes.{{Cite web| title = #1 Cargill |work=Forbes|date=October 28, 2009| access-date = May 4, 2020| url = https://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/21/private-companies-09_Cargill_5ZUZ.html}}

The operation's history can be traced to the Excel Packing Company, which was formed in Chicago in 1936.{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Dell M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23V0EAAAQBAJ&dq=Excel+Packing+Company+cargill&pg=PA248 |title=Meat Then and Now: A historical overview of the importance of meat, livestock and railroads in the westward expansion of the United States |date=2022-06-09 |publisher=Outskirts Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4787-7404-4 |pages=248 |language=en}} In 1941, Excel moved to Wichita, and was incorporated as Kansas Beef Industries in 1970. In 1974, Kansas Beef Industries merged with Missouri Beef Packers and the company was renamed MBPXL, reflecting the merged entities, MBP for Missouri Beef Packers and XL for Kansas Beef Industries' original name, Excel.

Cargill acquired MBPXL in 1979, and the company's name was changed to Excel in 1982, reflecting its early history.{{cite web |url=https://appserver.excelmeats.com/about/history.htm |title=Excel History |website=ExcelMeats.com |accessdate=June 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816122055/https://appserver.excelmeats.com/about/history.htm |archive-date=August 16, 2016 |url-status=dead }} Under its new name, Excel purchased Spencer Beef from Land O'Lakes in 1983, which added operations in Spencer, Iowa, Oakland, Iowa, and Schuyler, Nebraska.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1926&dat=19830620&id=sVcrAAAAIBAJ&pg=2640,3945504&hl=en |title=What's next? Spencer Beef sale will bring changes, but not right away |newspaper=Spencer Daily Reporter |date=June 20, 1983 |accessdate=June 24, 2016 |first=Gene |last=Lucht}} The sale was challenged on anti-trust grounds by a smaller competitor, Monfort of Colorado; while Monfort prevailed in lower courts, in 1986 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the sale was legal.{{cite news |url=http://beefmagazine.com/sectors/processing/0701-jbs-back-future |title=It's back to the future for JBS |newspaper=Beef Magazine |date=July 1, 2008 |accessdate=August 28, 2016 |first=Walt |last=Barnhart}}

In 1987, Excel entered the pork processing business when it acquired plants from Hormel in Ottumwa, Iowa, and Oscar Mayer in Beardstown, Illinois. In 2001, Excel purchased Emmpak Foods, a maker of cooked meats, deli meats, frozen hamburger patties and case-ready ground beef.{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2001/08/20/daily29.html |title=Sale of Emmpak Foods completed |newspaper=Milwaukee Business Journal |date=August 23, 2001 |accessdate=June 24, 2016 }}

In a 1988 New York Times article reported that together, three meat processing companies -- "Excel Inc., a subsidiary of Cargill Inc.", Conagra Brands, and Iowa Beef Processors -- "buy, slaughter and sell nearly three-quarters of the [United States]'s grain-fattened cattle."{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Robbins| first = William| title = A Meatpacker Cartel Up Ahead?| work = The New York Times| access-date = May 4, 2020| date = May 29, 1988| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/29/business/a-meatpacker-cartel-up-ahead.html}} ConAgra's former meat processing holdings are now owned by JBS USA, and IBP was purchased by Tyson Foods and is now known as Tyson Fresh Meats.

In 2004, the division's name was changed from Excel to Cargill Meat Solutions.{{cite news |url=http://amarillo.com/stories/2004/09/16/bus_excel.shtml#.V2y2ZldJorh |title=Excel name change to Cargill Meat Solutions |newspaper=Amarillo Globe-News |date=September 16, 2004 |accessdate=June 23, 2016 }} In 2005, Cargill brought back the Excel name as a brand for the division's "everyday" meat product line.{{cite news |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/wichita/stories/2005/10/24/story6.html |title=Cargill Meat Solutions revives Excel brand |newspaper=Wichita Business Journal |date=October 20, 2005 |accessdate=June 23, 2016 |first=Ken |last=Vandruff}} In July 2015, Cargill announced it was selling its U.S. pork processing business to JBS USA for $1.45 billion.{{cite news |url=http://www.agriculture.com/news/livestock/cargill-pks-trek-through-modern-pig_3-ar49474 |title=Cargill Pork's Trek Through Modern Pig Business |newspaper=Successful Farming |date=July 10, 2015 |accessdate=June 23, 2016 |first=Betsy |last=Freese}}

In October 2007, Cargill recalled nearly {{convert|845000|lbs|kg}} of ground beef after an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 occurred in North Carolina.[http://www.about-ecoli.com/ecoli_outbreaks/news/2-local-children-infected-with-e-coli/ 2 Local Children Infected With E. Coli]

In October 2002, the Emmpak meat packing plant recalled {{convert|2800000|lbs|kg}} of ground beef, also linked to an E. coli breakout. Emmpak is owned by the Excel Corporation, a subsidiary of Cargill.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=86806 |title=Woman hospitalized with E. coli sues Emmpak |access-date=2008-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070425203031/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=86806 |archive-date=2007-04-25 |url-status=dead }}

In Canada, Cargill has "integrated beef processing facilities" called Cargill Proteins—one which is located just north of High River, Alberta—a town with a population 12,000 people, and a second facility in Guelph, Ontario.{{Cite web| title = Meat Processing |series=Cargill Canada| access-date = May 3, 2020| url = https://www.cargill.ca/en/meat-processing}}{{Cite news| series = Commodities Agriculture| title = Cargill is shuttering its High River meat-packing plant after it was linked to more than 350 cases of coronavirus |work= Financial Post| access-date = May 4, 2020| date = April 20, 2020| url = https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/agriculture/newsalert-high-river-alta-meat-packing-plant-temporarily-stopping-production}} The High River plant processes about 4,500 head of cattle a day, which represents about 36 percent of Canada's beef producing capacity.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2020/04/21/closure-of-alberta-beef-plant-could-push-up-prices-but-shouldnt-create-shortages-trudeau-says.html |first=Alex |last=Ballingall |date=April 21, 2020|access-date=May 4, 2020|title=Justin Trudeau warns beef prices could go up after Alberta plant closes due to COVID-19|publisher=Toronto Star}}

A meat processing plant in High River, Alberta located about {{convert|37|mi|km}} south of the city of Calgary, is the site of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in North America,{{Cite news| last1 = Dryden| first1 = Joel| last2 = Rieger| first2 = Sarah| title = North America's biggest COVID-19 outbreak happened here — look inside| access-date = May 13, 2020| date = May 6, 2020| url = https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/cargill-covid19-outbreak}}{{Cite news| date = May 3, 2020| title = What you need to know about COVID-19 in Alberta on Sunday, May 3 |work= CBC News|access-date=May 3, 2020| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/what-you-need-to-know-alberta-may-3-1.5553911}} with two deaths, 946 employees who tested positive, and with links to 1,560 cases in Alberta by May 6. The plant employs 2,000 people.{{cite news |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/live-at-330-p-m-dr-hinshaw-to-update-albertas-covid-19-numbers/ |title=Three new COVID-19 deaths in Alberta as union pushes to keep Cargill closed|newspaper=The Calgary Herald |first=Jason |last=Herring |access-date=May 3, 2020 |date=May 2, 2020}}

On April 17, 2020 Deena Hinshaw, the Chief Medical Officer of Alberta reported that "households with connections" to the Cargill facility represented 358 confirmed cases of coronavirus. By April 20, when Hinshaw reported the number had increased to 484—which included 360 of the 2,100 employees—the facility was temporarily closed for two weeks all employees of the facility were recommended for virus testing.{{cite news |first=Kelsey |last=Johnson|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-meat-cargill-ltd/cargill-to-temporarily-idle-alberta-beef-plant-as-hundreds-of-workers-infected-by-covid-19-idUSKBN22234Y|access-date=May 3, 2020 |date=April 20, 2020|title=Cargill to temporarily idle Alberta beef plant as hundreds of workers infected by COVID-19|publisher=Reuters}}{{Cite news| title = High River's Cargill meat-packing plant to reopen May 4 |first=Sammy |last=Hudes|newspaper= Calgary Herald|access-date=May 3, 2020 |date=April 30, 2020| url = https://calgaryherald.com/business/cargill-plant-to-reopen-may-4-company-says-safety-procedures-bolstered-after-750-covid-19-infections/}} A representative of the Alberta chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said that "cases at Cargill were causing a cross-contamination"—of the five workers at High River's Seasons Retirement Communities who tested positive for the coronavirus, three were married to Cargill workers.

The CBC reported that Cargill slaughterhouse workers were pressured to return to their jobs after testing positive for COVID-19 and being legally required to quarantine themselves.{{cite web |last1=Dryden |first1=Joel |title=What led to Alberta's biggest outbreak? Cargill meat plant's hundreds of COVID-19 cases |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cargill-alberta-covid-19-deena-hinshaw-1.5537377 |work=CBC News |date=April 19, 2020|access-date=April 20, 2020}}

Hearings before the Alberta Labour Relations Board on a stop-work order, sought by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Union that represents Cargill workers, began on the weekend prior to the May 4 opening.{{Cite news| title = Union rallies as Cargill meat plant reopens after shutdown due to COVID-19 |work=The Canadian Press via BNN Bloomberg| access-date = May 4, 2020| date = May 4, 2020| url = https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/-1.1431149}} By May 4, the UFCW said that conditions at the Cargill facility were "unsafe for workers".

The plant re-opened on May 4. By May 6, of the 5,893 confirmed cases in the entire province of Alberta, the province's health services had "linked 1,560 cases to the Cargill facility."{{Cite web| title = Analysis: In Cargill, Alberta faces a question of morality |work= The Sprawl| access-date =May 6, 2020| url = https://www.sprawlcalgary.com/cargill-outbreak-question-of-morality}} As of May 12, 18 of the 37 inspectors at the High River plant had COVID-19.{{Cite news| first = Rachel |last=Ward |work=CBC News| title = 21 food inspectors in Alberta have COVID-19, senator says | access-date = May 13, 2020| date = May 13, 2020| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/senator-meat-plant-inspectors-1.5568192}}

On April 13, 2020, 130 workers at a Cargill meatpacking plant in Hazleton, Pennsylvania were diagnosed with coronavirus, and the plant closed.{{cite news | last =Luciew | first =John | title =With Pa. meat-packing workers getting COVID-19, is the food supply safe?| newspaper =The Patriot-News | location =Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | date =April 13, 2020 | url =https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/with-pa-meat-packing-workers-getting-covid-19-is-the-food-supply-safe.html| accessdate =April 19, 2020 }}

• Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the meat industry in the United States
• COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta

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• {{official website|http://www.cargill.com/company/businesses/cargill-meat-solutions/index.jsp}}

{{Cargill}}

{{Food industry criticism}}

Category:Meat processing in the United States

Category:Cargill

Category:Meat packers