Coronavirus outbreak at Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant

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).

Comments (32)

32 Comments »

  1. "You Are My Density" said

    April 11, 2020 @ 2:55 am

    That is so surprising, given the low population density of South Dakota.

  2. Not a Psychic said

    April 11, 2020 @ 3:20 am

    Unfortunately, I suspect that more than one competitive eater will get infected by the COVID-19 virus. If so, I hope it’s very mild and that they recover quickly.

  3. anonymous said

    April 11, 2020 @ 8:54 am

    The virus has shut down my sex drive, my digestive system(constipated) , my reason for happiness, my reason to live

  4. anonymous said

    April 11, 2020 @ 12:25 pm

    This virus does not discriminate but the 1918 spanish flu did. If you go back in history the flu was not contagious it picked and choose whom to randomly attack and when it did attack the results were horrific. That my friend is actually worse than what we are dealing with now.

  5. Anonymous said

    April 11, 2020 @ 1:23 pm

    That helps put things in perspective, 12:25. Thanks.

  6. anonymous said

    April 11, 2020 @ 2:39 pm

    I hate to dispute your theory 12;25 but the corona virus is discriminating as we speak. The only way to find fact is to view the pics of each and every victim

  7. Anonymous said

    April 11, 2020 @ 3:02 pm

    The 1918 Spanish flu did not shut the entire country down for months.

  8. anonymous said

    April 11, 2020 @ 4:25 pm

    At least bring baseball back in some form. Tired of watching Mets old timers game from 1977 98% of those old timers are dead now

  9. Patience said

    April 11, 2020 @ 7:21 pm

    Let’s be patient. We need to get used to being without sports in 2020 and perhaps most of 2021. Perhaps we can start bringing them back by 2022, if the coronavirus has subsided. Take it slow.

  10. Healthy Better Than Wealthy said

    April 12, 2020 @ 1:57 pm

    If competitive eaters are smart, they’ll embrace this.

  11. Kevin Ross said

    April 12, 2020 @ 3:10 pm

    People know one can live without red meat indefinitely? We have plentiful food. If it changes the specific food we can eat temporarily, not much to complain about. . .

  12. anonymous said

    April 12, 2020 @ 5:34 pm

    Bob Shoudt is paying this pandemic no mind. In his latest video he consumes 15lbs of pasta like this virus never existed. It appears his attitude is like if im gonna die im gonna die doing what i love. Hey more power to him but it does not sound like practical sense at all

  13. @5:34 said

    April 12, 2020 @ 7:51 pm

    At Least Bob isn’t dressed like an infantile rabibit. It’s amusing to watch the gym rats girl friend check her appearance a dozen time on the videos they put up. Her swollen face isn’t getting any cuter.

  14. NickW said (Registered May 13, 2018)

    April 12, 2020 @ 11:18 pm

    What’s a rabibit? I appreciate the “gym rat” comment…..I suppose that means I’m built better than your average person…..gracias. And generally when people film anything they check their appearance……hence why TV and movie crews have hair and makeup…..or I suppose you could just be not concerned at all with your appearance. That’s cool too. Thanks for the views though. Don’t forget to like, comment, share and subscribe! And Happy Easter of course!

  15. @gymrat said

    April 13, 2020 @ 4:14 pm

    Can’t she speak for herself?

  16. Infantile Rabibit said

    April 13, 2020 @ 6:10 pm

    I’m too busy checking my appearance 🙂

  17. NickW said (Registered May 13, 2018)

    April 13, 2020 @ 6:36 pm

    Wake up idiot…..you said yourself she’s too busy checking how she looks to worry about the the same old eatfeats trolling comments

  18. Are you getting riled said

    April 13, 2020 @ 11:06 pm

    I think someone is getting on the hot side. Need a chilled protein booster?

  19. Anonymous said

    April 13, 2020 @ 11:25 pm

    The person leaving the trolling comments hasn’t been laid in years and that’s never going to change. #gorabbits

  20. anonymous said

    April 14, 2020 @ 9:18 am

    Ive been bashed on this site for years but i can honestly admit i am not the Nick Sudo troller just in case some of you feel the need to make false accusations against me. OJ can check the IP address to verify. The Nick Sudo basher obviously had some interaction with either or both . I have nothing against Sudo and i dont know Nick nor have i had the pleasure of meeting him. . Competitive eating bodybuilders are a rare breed in the sport but for some reason some of them like Dr Bigtime and a few others have taken the heat and its usually stems from jealousy. If you put in the work you will get results instead of just eating and sitting . It would not surprise me if its the same troll who bashes Raina

  21. @9:18 said

    April 14, 2020 @ 10:53 am

    Raina loves me . I’ve had extensive video meetings with her. As I’ve entered my transformation we give each other fashion lessons.

  22. Anonymous said

    April 14, 2020 @ 2:42 pm

    OJ gets to play a little bit of god knowing who’s commenting what based on location.

  23. Anonymous said

    April 14, 2020 @ 2:59 pm

    Office space.

  24. Anonymous said

    April 14, 2020 @ 4:18 pm

    How many people remember a Dr. Bigtime? Who was he?

  25. NickW said (Registered May 13, 2018)

    April 14, 2020 @ 8:09 pm

    What’s a chilled protein booster?

  26. ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)

    April 14, 2020 @ 8:50 pm

    Dr. Bigtime is Nashville orthopedic surgeon Juris Shibayama

    http://eatfeats.com/query.php?_table=eaters&id=645

  27. anonymous said

    April 14, 2020 @ 10:02 pm

    He went shirtless in 2008 Nathans intros at Coney Island flexing his physique. It was his first and last appearance. For someone who practices medicine he appeared to have the mentality of a 14 yr old. His arrogance escalated into the after party when he got stone cold drunk trying to impress a chick with his physique but ended up getting thrown out by the bouncer along with Arturo Rios. I think his career with mle lasted a year

  28. Bite said

    April 14, 2020 @ 10:16 pm

    I would gladly give my life for competitive eating. It is everything to me!

  29. Your all gonna get it said

    April 14, 2020 @ 10:52 pm

    Your all gonna get the virus and most of you unhealthy shmucks are going to croak . Mark my words , but most of you Obese idiots are going to succumb . Stay safe

  30. anonymous said

    April 14, 2020 @ 11:44 pm

    add another 3000 to the death count in ny tonight. Unreported deaths that never made it to the hospital . With this kind of stinkin grim news , Nathans wont be happening till 2021 or later No vaccine no Nathans

  31. anonymous said

    April 15, 2020 @ 12:34 am

    Cuomo was reporting that the hospitalization rate went down over the past week wait till he gets this news. I dont even want to watch the briefing

  32. anonymous said

    April 15, 2020 @ 7:37 am

    Those unreported deaths in NYC were people living in nursing homes and assisted living who never received a test .
    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/04/new-york-adds-presumed-coronavirus-cases-death-toll-3700-new-deaths-added-today-revised-count/

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