Federal Judge Closes Kosher Poultry Slaughterhouse
A kosher poultry slaughterhouse has been shut down due to unsanitary conditions.
Federal Judge Stephen C. Robinson of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday ordered the New Square kosher poultry slaughterhouse closed after years of attempts by the USDA to force the plant to comply with the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Journal News reported.
The slaughterhouse’s attorney asked the judge to allow the plant to operate for an additional two weeks to give its kosher-consuming customers time to find another source for kosher poultry. The judge refused the request, after government lawyers said it was too great a risk, according to the Journal News.
During an April inspection, federal inspectors found there was no soap or hand sanitizers in the employee bathrooms, and found poultry residue on walls, light fixtures and in the manager’s office.
The slaughterhouse has been planning to build a state-of-the-art facility in the Chasidic Jewish community of Ramapo, a town bordered by New Jersey, a move being resisted by the county.
The plant slaughters 1,500 to 1,600 chickens and turkeys a day, six days a week, and its’ products are sold at Oneg Poultry, a retail store in New Square, N.Y.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
