Food Plant Worker Gets Jail Time For Contaminating Chicken Which Led To Massive 2016 Recall

An employee at a chicken processing plant in Minnesota has been convicted of intentionally contaminating chicken and causing a massive poultry recall in 2016.

According to Food Safety News, in June of 2016 the Minnesota-based GNP Company had to recall almost 56,000 pounds of "Gold'n Plump" and "Just BARE" branded chicken after it was found to be contaminated by sand and black soil. After an investigation, 37-year-old Faye Slye of Cold Spring, Minnesota, reportedly confessed to contaminating chicken with plastic bags of dirt and sand she'd filled from the plant's parking lot.

Slye was reportedly filmed by the company's surveillance cameras, and there was dirt and sand from the parking lot on her sleeves.

Slye has been convicted of two counts of causing damage to property in the first degree, a felony, and she's been sentenced to 90 days in prison. She will also be on probation for five years, and she also has to pay $200,000 to the company in restitution for causing the recall. The tainted products were reportedly shipped to foodservice and retail operations nationwide, and nearly 28 tons of poultry had to be recalled and destroyed instead of ending up on someone's plate or in one of our best chicken recipes.