Unreported COVID-19 outbreaks force 3 California food suppliers to shut, officials say

Three food suppliers in Los Angeles County face shutdown orders after unreported coronavirus outbreaks among workers, health officials say.

The county has ordered Golden State Foods Corp., Mission Foods and S&S Foods to shut down operations at their Southern California plants, KABC reported.

“They had significant outbreaks among their employees,” said Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, KTTV reported. All three plants had more than 40 workers infected but failed to notify health officials as required, Ferrer said.

Golden State Foods Co., a key supplier to McDonald’s restaurants, had 43 employees with COVID-19 at a City of Industry plant, KTLA reported.

Mission Foods, which distributes a popular line of tortillas, had 40 employees test positive in Commerce and S&S Foods in Azusa had 58 workers with the virus, according to the station.

In an emailed statement, Golden State Foods Co. said it had complied with coronavirus reporting requirements until they were changed without notice in July.

“This was simply a procedural matter around reporting,” the statement reads. Health officials allowed the company’s plant to reopen within 24 hours once it updated its reports.

Mission Foods also reopened its facility after 24 hours, the company said in an emailed statement, saying the firm has “acted promptly and decisively to protect the health and safety of our employees nationwide” since the pandemic began.

The shutdown orders came shortly after county officials allowed Los Angeles Apparel, which has had more than 300 confirmed cases and four deaths, to reopen its facility after safety changes, KABC reported.

More than 17 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 667,000 deaths as of Thursday, July 30, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 4.4 million confirmed cases with more than 150,000 deaths.

California has had more than 484,000 confirmed cases and more than 8,900 deaths, the university reported.

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic. In the United States, President Donald Trump has declared a national emergency.

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Unreported COVID-19 outbreaks force 3 California food suppliers to shut, officials say."