Rep. Jared Huffman, whose North Coast district includes a slaughterhouse at the center of a massive beef recall, says federal prosecutors are investigating the facility over a possible attempt to deceive federal inspectors.
Huffman, D-San Rafael, told KQED News that he and Rep. Mike Thompson, whose district covers much of Sonoma County, had spoken to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Monday morning about Rancho Feeding Corp. Huffman said Vilsack informed them that the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco is investigating "a deliberate act of deception" by the plant's owner.
Earlier this month, the Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service ordered the company to recall 8.7 million pounds of meat it had handled since January 2013. The safety agency said the company had processed diseased and unsound animals without full inspections.
Consumer groups and union leaders last week said the problems at the Petaluma facility may have been the result of fewer USDA meat inspectors. But Huffman said Vilsack told him the number of inspectors was not an issue.
"What Secretary Vilsack emphasized was the seriousness of the investigation," Huffman said. "He was emphatic that this was a situation involving repeated acts of deception by the owner of Rancho and not a breakdown in the inspection process."