JBS USA Creates Company to Provide Plant Sanitation, Food Safety Services

May 3, 2023

JBS Sanitation will perform sanitation services for JBS USA and Pilgrim’s Pride processing plants after company cut ties with embattled Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI).

Andy Hanacek

Citing “troubling allegations” that have plagued the food sanitation sector, and having terminated its contracts with third-party sanitation provider PSSI at numerous facilities, JBS USA has announced the creation of JBS Sanitation, a full-service food safety and food plant sanitation company to provide these services to JBS USA and Pilgrim’s Pride facilities moving forward.

JBS USA will immediately begin the transition of 10 facilities to JBS Sanitation, and expects to move additional facilities to the new company if third-party service providers cannot meet the company’s audit and compliance standards.

PSSI (Packers Sanitation Services Inc.) paid a $1.5 million settlement to the U.S. Department of Labor in February, the culmination of a months-long investigation that found more than 100 children working on sanitation crews at meat-processing plants for the company. In April, PSSI appointed a replacement for its retiring CEO and launched a charitable fund to help children in communities it serves. But the company still reportedly has lost customers in the wake of the DOL investigation.

JBS Sanitation, for its part, will partner with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), focusing on maintaining tight controls on food safety, sanitation, employment verification and compliance.

Wilson Herrera, a 17-year industry veteran who led corporate human resources for JBS USA Pork and served as chairman of the JBS USA and Pilgrim’s Sanitation Committee, was named president of JBS Sanitation.

Former Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety and USDA-FSIS administrator Alfred “Al” Almanza — who is now global head of food safety and quality assurance for JBS Global — will serve as the head of technical services for JBS Sanitation.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.