Rancho Feeding Corporation was a

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is not ...

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village na ...

. The facility halted operations in February 2014, after several recalls of beef, including one amounting to 8.7 million pounds. The recalled beef had been processed between January 2013 and January 2014, and may have reached up to 35 states. The

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

had alleged that Rancho processed diseased animals and circumvented federal inspection rules. The facility was then sold to new owners, who, after overhauling the slaughterhouse, began processing cattle and hogs in April 2014. On August 18, a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a ...

indicted two former owners and two employees of the facility on felony charges, including slaughtering cows with "cancer eye" when inspectors were temporarily not present. The 1906

Federal Meat Inspection Act The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) is an American law that makes it illegal to adulterate or misbrand meat and meat products being sold as food, and ensures that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under strictly re ...

requires USDA inspectors to be present during all stages of slaughterhouse operations.

References

Petaluma, California History of the San Francisco Bay Area Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area Meat processing in the United States 2014 disestablishments in California Food and drink companies based in California {{animal-rights-stub