Thread: Agriprocessors keeps key certification

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Article published: May 20, 2008
Agriprocessors keeps key certification

The world's largest kosher certification agency will continue to give its stamp of approval to products made at Agriprocessors, Inc. in Postville.

Rabbis at the Orthodox Union, a New York-based non-profit organization that certifies thousands of meatpacking plants around the world, are still supervising and certifying the kosher products made at the plant, but are watching to see whether the federal government finds the company guilty of any wrongdoing.

Immigration authorities raided Agriprocessors on May 12 and detained 389 people. Of those, 306 have been charged, mostly with some sort of document fraud or identity theft.

The company, which at full capacity produces around 60 percent of the glatt kosher meat and 40 percent of the kosher poultry produced in America, has not been charged with anything by the federal government. Search warrants, though, include allegations that supervisors mistreated workers and that there has been a pattern of hiring and continuing to employ illegal immigrants.

Several workers filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday claiming that Agriprocessors acquired false identification for employees and that supervisors were abusive.

Rabbi Menachem Genack, who oversees the Orthodox Union's certification system, said these accusations are serious and may have bearing on the plant's kosher certification.
"We rely on the government to make those judgments ... and we will wait to see where the facts lead," he said. "If Agriprocessors were criminally liable and it were a felony, that would be a matter of great concern."

A rabbi regularly visits the plant, Genack said, and certification is constantly under review.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines released a statement saying that if some of the charges against the company are correct, "the company would warrant the condemnation of the entire Jewish community in Iowa, and of Jews everywhere."

"What makes the circumstance particularly egregious to the Jewish community is that this corporation, which serves as a religious-based business, in producing kosher meat, has seemingly failed to adhere to both civil law and Jewish law," the statement said.
K'hal Adath Jeshurun, a Jewish congregation in New York that offers its own certification, stopped certifying Agriprocessors on April 16.

Rabbi Moses Edelstein would not say why, but said the plant had been certified since it opened in 1989.

Kosher foods are prescribed by Jewish dietary law, which governs the slaughter of animals and forbids consumption of some foods.

Meat produced at Agriprocessors that doesn't meet kosher standards is sold under the Iowa Best Beef Brand. In 2003, company officials said non-kosher meat made up 70 percent of Agriprocessors' sales.

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http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs. ... 413/0/news

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