American meat producers used “baseless” claims of potential meat shortages to convince Trump administration officials not to implement more stringent safety regulations that would have kept meatpacking workers from contracting Covid-19, according to a new report from the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
The committee found that the five largest meatpacking firms in the US — Tyson Foods, Inc, JBS USA Holdings, Inc, Smithfield Foods, Cargill, Inc, and the National Beef Packing Company – “engaged in a concerted effort with Trump Administration political officials to insulate themselves from coronavirus-related oversight, to force workers to continue working in dangerous conditions, and to shield themselves from legal liability for any resulting worker illness or death”.
