Allen Harim plant back in production after FSIS citation

After going offline for several days, the Allen Harim Foods poultry plant in Harbeson, Delaware, resumed production on February 16, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

Roy Graber Headshot
(Allen Harim)
(Allen Harim)

After going offline for several days, the Allen Harim Foods poultry plant in Harbeson, Delaware, resumed production on February 16, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The spokesman, who asked that his name not be published, said FSIS cited Allen Harim for failure to meet regulatory sanitation requirements on February 12. FSIS inspectors were removed from the facility until the situation could be rectified, therefore the chicken products produced there could not receive the USDA stamp of approval and could not go into commerce.

Allen Harim was asked to show proof of preventative measures and corrective actions to rectify the situation, and FSIS was to see if the corrective measures would have the intended effects, or bring the facility back into compliance. At this point, FSIS is satisfied with what is being done, but it will strictly monitor the facility.

“In this case, we validated it, evaluated it and determined that they were suitable for the situation,” the spokesman said. “So now the establishment went into what’s called the advanced period, in which they received increased oversight in which FSIS will have our verification plan to ensure they are actually carrying out what they said they will do, and it will have its intended effect.”

“They were back in operation, as of Sunday. Our inspectors are back in the establishment ensuring the product coming out of there is safe and is properly labeled.”

Allen Harim Foods is a vertically integrated poultry company that employs 1,775 people. It produced 8.05 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2019. The company operates one slaughter plant, two further processing plants, two hatcheries and two feed mills. It is headquartered in Millsboro, Delaware, having moved its headquarters from Seaford, Delaware, to Millsboro in 2018. Its new corporate office, which Allen Harim purchased in 2014, is a building that formerly housed a Vlasic pickle plant.

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