The New York Times reports that Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, SD, which has been labeled as the top coronavirus hotspot in the USA, will resume operations tomorrow. One of the products the facility produces is Nathan’s Famous hot dogs.

In Sioux Falls, S.D., where the virus sickened more than 1,000 people at a Smithfield pork processing plant, the outbreak appears to be slowing, Mayor Paul TenHaken said. More than 4,000 Smithfield employees, their family members and close contacts, were recently tested.

Yet the mayor fears that his city’s progress could be temporary. On Monday, the plant will begin slaughtering hogs again. Hundreds of employees will be back together at work.

“I’ll be honest, it makes me nervous,” Mr. TenHaken said. “We’ve seen how a zero-case facility can become a 1,000-case facility.”

Nathan’s Famous did not expect the closure to have a negative impact on hot dog supply in a SEC document from April.

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An April 21 SEC document for Nathan’s Famous announces that the company has received a $1.22M Paycheck Protection Program loan from the federal government and that its hot dogs were produced by a currently closed Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, SD which has been labelled as the top coronavirus hotspot in the USA. Despite the shutdown, Nathan’s does not expect a disruption in national frankfurter supplies even if the facility’s reopening (currently scheduled for the week of April 27) is delayed.

The primary manufacturer of our hot dogs, Smithfield Foods, has recently announced the closure of four of its plants due to COVID-19. The only plant closure that has any relationship to our operations is the Sioux Falls plant which is currently scheduled to reopen during the week of April 27, 2020. In the event that the Smithfield Foods plant reopening is delayed, we do not anticipate that the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak will have a material adverse effect on our supply of hot dogs over the next several months.

update Daily Beast reports that Nathan’s will return the loan.

update April 28 President Trump announced he will invoke the Defense Production Act to force meatpacking facilities to remain open. Nathan’s Famous executive chairman Howard Lorber is a friend of the Trump family and hosted a fundraiser in 2018.

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The New York Times ranked Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls, SD as the #4 coronavirus hotspot in the United States after 190 cases were detected there. In 2014, Nathan’s Famous started a licensing agreement with Smithfield Foods for it to manufacture and distribute Nathan’s branded hot dogs. update The plant will be shutdown for three days to sanitize the facility. PBS.org has a report on the 2013 takeover of Smithfield Foods by Shuanghui International for $4.7 billion, the largest Chinese takeover of any American company.

update Apr 12 Smithfield announced today the plant would be closed for an indefinite period

“The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running. These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation’s livestock farmers. These farmers have nowhere to send their animals,” said Kenneth M. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer, for Smithfield.

update April 14 There are now 545 coronavirus cases associated with the facility, which makes it the #2 hotspot according to the New York Times and the top located in the 50 states. (The overall #1 is an aircraft carrier currently in Guam).

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The Center for Disease Control posted the following guidance on its website today:

Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings, recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.

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update Jan 29 Daily Mail has an article about the deceased giving her name as Megan Moon and her age as 51.

update Jan 27 Yahoo, CNN and the BBC have articles. The hotel has posted a statement on its facebook page.

News.com.au reports that a 60 year old woman passed away after choking and suffering a seizure while competing in an Australia Day lamington (sponge cake) eating contest held at the Beach House Hotel in Hervey Bay, QLD. (Newsweek | Daily Mail | SMH video)

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update Jan 24 A Go Fund Me donation page has been set up by Brandon’s brother.

STLToday.com reports that Brandon “Da Garbage Disposal” Clark was hospitalized after trying to extinguish a fire in his Cahokia, IL home. Camp Jackson Fire Chief Christopher Davis was also taken to a hospital after experiencing a medical emergency fighting the fire. Clark’s daughter, Aryonna Clark, escaped the fire without injury. (BND.com article) update A KMOV news video has an interview with Clark after he was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. He will need to return for treatment to burns on his arms and hands.

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MajorLeagueEating.com has sad and shocking news: an obituary for Juliet Lee has been posted. No details about her passing are provided and I have not been able to track down any additional sources of information.

update Fox 5 has an article with these quotes from George Shea

“Juliet was in very good health and if you think of the number of times competitive eaters attend contests each year, it might be 3-10 contests a year so its not over the course of a year, an extraordinary addition of calories or both. …i have never heard of any impact like that. I can say that it certainly had nothing to do with competitive eating,” said Shea.

update Sept 23 A commenter gives the date of Juliet’s passing as August 16, more than three weeks before the date of September 9 in the MLE obituary. A comment on a Germantown Pulse facebook post also gives August as the month of passing.

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update #5MLE have made their first social media update since Tuesday’s tragedy with an Instagram post about Badlands Booker’s new video. The Sacramento Bee has an article The family has set up a fundraising page on facebook

update #4 Yahoo.com has an interview with the family of the deceased. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office announced that choking was the cause of death.

Another tweet promoting Tuesday’s contest as a MLE qualifier has been deleted (Original URL) Here is a screen capture:

update #3Saturday’s contest has been removed from the MLE schedule.

update #2 Saturday’s MLE contest has been cancelled (Fresno Bee article)

The Fresno Grizzlies have deleted the June 26 tweet promoting last night’s contest as a MLE qualifier. Here is a screenshot:

update The Fresno Grizzlies have posted an official statement which denies that last night’s contest was MLE sanctioned or a qualifier for a MLE event. The contest was promoted as awarding a spot in Saturday’s MLE contest. The Fresno Grizzlies held qualifiers in 2017 and 2018. Both competitions were won by Zach Armas, who took 6th and 5th place in the MLE events.

The Fresno Bee reports that a competitor in last night’s taco eating contest at the Fresno Grizzlies ballpark passed away. The competition was to have awarded a spot in Saturday’s MLE contest. I believe this is the first fatality connected with a sanctioned event in American competitive eating history. Details about the incident:

Fans at the game said a man collapsed to the ground in the middle of the taco eating contest. Emergency medical technicians then attempted the Heimlich maneuver and CPR before paramedics arrived in an ambulance and tried to resuscitate him, fans added.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the man collapsed.

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