According to local news reports, the Danville, Ill., Quaker Oats processing plant at the center of the enormous recall of numerous brands and varieties of cereals and granola bars in 2023 will be demolished “soon.”
Danville’s mayor told the news outlet the news was “devastating to hear,” and that losing the facility would be a big loss for the community. The plant had been in operation for nearly six decades, and when it closed this summer, more than 500 employees were laid off from one of the area’s largest employers.
The plant produced Quaker Chewy Bars as well as ready-to-eat cereals. A significant number of Quaker Chewy Bars varieties were recalled in December 2023 for possible Salmonella contamination — a recall that was then expanded twice in January 2024 to include more varieties. The recall included numerous cereal and snack bars as well as some of the brand’s ready-to-eat cereal and related products. In July 2024, FDA lambasted the company and the facility for lax food safety and sanitation strategies that may have allowed Salmonella strain to have been present in the facility for the past four years, according to records.
Local officials weren’t sure of the future of the site, but it appears they believed it could be sold, renovated and restarted to preserve the employment potential — yet, PepsiCo did say it was closing the facility due to the fact that it was so outdated and had enough issues that didn’t warrant the financial investment in renovating and remediating many of the issues the plant appeared to have.
The next steps are unclear, but the local news outlet said that the city owns nearly 100 acres of land west of the building and has inquired with PepsiCo about securing the Quaker property in order to keep it ready for a quick turnaround should another industrial company want to work with the current infrastructure on the site.
