The Pennsylvania egg producer featured in a recent ABC News report says undercover video released by the Humane Society and broadcast by ABC News that purports to show animal cruelty and unsanitary conditions at one of its facilities “could have been taped an any chicken house,” and that new inspection reports show the company maintains high standards of cleanliness and animal welfare.
Last week, the Humane Society of the U.S. released video that it said had been shot in February and March by an undercover investigator at a Kreider Farms facility in Manheim, Pennsylvania. The footage, aired by ABC News on “World News with Diane Sawyer,” showed conditions that the HSUS characterized as “deplorable.” The video shows dead birds left in cages with live birds, live birds trapped in cage wires and a floor thick with flies.
Unsanitary conditions in egg farms, especially a large insect or rodent population, can lead to a higher risk for a salmonella outbreak. ABC News has reported before on conditions at egg farms that can lead to public health concerns.
Kreider Farms, which supplies eggs for ShopRite grocery stores and other retailers in the Northeast, questioned the authenticity of the video, saying in a statement that “HSUS’s video demonstrates no connection to Kreider Farms — it could have been taped in any chicken house.”
After ABC News provided Kreider Farms with pictures and video from the Humane Society showing workers wearing uniforms with a “Kreider Farms” logo, the company reaffirmed that it believed the video showed “no connection to Kreider Farms,” and added: “HSUS’s videos are designed to mislead viewers, and consumers should question how they are shot, edited and assembled. The still images and video footage of Kreider Farms workers, released by HSUS, provide no evidence of HSUS’s allegations.”
Ron Kreider, President and CEO of Kreider Farms, said the company produces a “high quality” and safe product. Kreider, whose family started the company in 1935, says what is depicted in the video is not representative of the company’s mission. “Kreider Farms is one of the most highly respected, progressive egg companies in the U.S.”
In statements to ABC News, Kreider Farms noted that the Manheim facility is one of its older facilities and that most of its egg production takes place in newer, modernized facilities.
A company spokesperson also pointed to three separate inspections conducted last week, after the company learned of the HSUS video and before the ABC News report aired, that indicate “zero evidence of any type of animal abuse or food safety concern.”
Representatives of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture visited the facility on two occasions last week. In a letter to Ron Kreider dated Friday, state Agriculture Secretary George Greig said that a veterinarian for the department determined that sanitation, rodent and insect control were all above minimum standards under an industry program designed to reduce the risk of salmonella.
“All practices, procedures and conditions that our veterinarian observed were consistent with industry best practices pertaining to animal health and food-borne pathogen risk minimization,” wrote Greig. “There was every indication of a high and consistent standard of flock health management in this facility.”
Greig noted, however, that the department “does not have jurisdiction on animal welfare issues.”
Two additional inspections — by the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Center and by Penn State — did not find any animal welfare issues, with one stating the Kreider hens “are being cared for in line with generally approved poultry practices.”
Kreider Farms also says the company has never had an outbreak of salmonella at its facilities. A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration, which inspects egg farms, told ABC News that the Manheim facility was inspected in January and two of eight samples were positive for Salmonella enteritis, but that no enforcement action was taken since the company voluntarily depopulated and cleaned the facility. There was no indication that any eggs were contaminated.
Paul Shapiro, vice president of farm animal protection at the Humane Society, says the undercover video his groups investigator shot is “irrefutable” and that the Humane Society released both edited and unedited footage on its website. “[Both] clearly show inhumane conditions for animals at Kreider’s factory farm in Manheim,” Shapiro told ABC News.
Shapiro also said that even if Kreider is in compliance with approved practices, the Humane Society takes issue with those practices. “We’re not alleging criminal wrongdoing,” said Shapiro. “We’re pointing out how cruel and inhumane the conditions for the animals are there. The real problem is the standard practices at the facility that are stipulated as in-use by all parties here.”
{ABC News/Matzav.com Newscenter}
don’t let these animal lovers and human haters start this campaign without opposition like they did in Postville
For those that do not know, Kreider Farms also produces milk and ice cream which are chalov yisreal. Its produced under the Pride of the Farm (Many cities south of New Jersey use their products).
These claims – which are likely false anyway – are isolated only to the trief chicken farms and not to the separate dairy farm.
I have used kreiders for decades and have visited the farm. These claims are as fabricated as anything, just another attempt by PETA types to make problems.
Thanks for reporting this, though, so that we know what we are up against. We must not let these sick people wreak havoc on this honest business run by good people.
Pride of the Farm puts out a great product and the farm runs a great and clean operation.
And these false videos and innuendo as well as self promoting PR and publicity was used to bring down Agri Processing and SMR as well.
Lets not forget that this is where Pride of the Farm Cholov Yisroel milk comes from.
The tactics of the Animal Rights groups that distort the facts and color them to fit their nefarious agenda, were already evident in the videos that PETA posted on their website during their smear campaign against Agriprocessors.
They posted a continuos run of gory footage of animals that thrashed about after their shechitah. They made it appear as if this was a constant occurence. The fact is that the 3 or 4 instances that they showed, happened MONTHS APART from each other, reflecting a TINY percentage of the total shechitas.
The Dept. of Agriculture considers 5% as an acceptable level of such occurences for all slaughterhouses.
PETA very deliberately mislead the public to promote their agenda by creating a very convincing false impression that this was a standard, common, occurrence at Agriprocessors. This video of Kreider Farms is just more of the same Communist propaganda.
The same thing was done to Sholom Rubashkin, and like the company here said, the film could have been shot at any other comparable location. Shlachthoizen are gross, period! Better then the goyishe that eletrocute or shoot their beheimos.
Par for the course for any group with the word ‘Humane’ in it – they always prove to be ‘inhumane’! Think of all the human rights groups and there one finds anti-semitism, anarchists, etc.