LITTLE ROCK — Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale said Friday that it has started a program called FarmCheck to audit the operations of its suppliers to ensure that animals destined for its meat-processing plants are raised in a humane environment.
The company said consumers want assurance that the food they buy is produced in a responsible manner.
“Here’s what I want people to know: at Tyson, we care enough to check on the farm and we’re determined to help find better ways to care for and raise healthy animals,” Donnie Smith, Tyson president and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
Tyson contracts with about 5,000 poultry farms, 3,000 hog farms and 4,000 cattle operations. The company said the FarmCheck audits already are under way on a trial basis at some of the hog farms that supply Tyson.
Auditors are checking for access to food and water, “proper” human-animal interaction and worker training. Currently, Tyson personnel are conducting the audits, but the company says it plans to eventually use independent auditors.
The company plans to extend the program to chicken and cattle operations by January 2014.
In a separate news release, Tyson included comments from some of its customers, hog farmers and from academia.
Jack Sinclair, executive vice president of food for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s U.S. stores division, said the Tyson program “is aligned with Wal-Mart’s commitment to ethical sourcing and shows leadership and dedication to addressing an issue all food suppliers and grocers face.”
Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States, said in an e-mailed statement that Tyson’s move falls short of humane practices.
“If Tyson’s standards allow for the lifelong confinement of sows in cages so small the animals cannot even turn around, then this program is inadequate,” he said, referring to gestation crates that are widely used in the industry.
“We urge Tyson to follow Dr. Temple Grandin’s advice and move away from this form of extreme confinement,” Pacelle said.
Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and a designer of livestock-handling facilities. She has developed a scoring system for livestock-handling facilities.
Remarks from Grandin were included in Tyson’s news release.
“This program makes it very clear that mistreatment of farm animals will not be tolerated,” she said. “It will be useful for training farm employees on proper animal handling.”
Janeen Salak-Johnson, associate professor of stress psychology and animal wellbeing at the University of Illinois, said Tyson’s move is “a step in the right direction and will help verify farmers are fulfilling their obligation to provide proper care for the animals they raise.”
Earlier this year, the Humane Society filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claiming Tyson was making deceptive public statements about its practices relating to animal care. The company’s statements followed an investigation by the Humane Society of a large-scale Wyoming hog farm that formerly was a supplier to a Tyson subsidiary.
Numerous companies, including supermarket chains such as Kroger and Safeway, as well as brands including Campbell and Kraft, have committed to sourcing pork from operations that don’t use gestation crates. Deadlines to reach that goal range from this year to a decade from now.
Business, Pages 31 on 10/13/2012