Empire launches new organic, drug-free poultry lines
Empire Kosher poultry is launching lines of organic and antibiotic-free poultry. The Pennsylvania company announced recently that it is ready to roll out both lines nationally.
“As we’ve seen demand for ABF and organic products grow in the non-kosher world, we decided to enter these markets with kosher products,” CEO Greg Rosenbaum said in a statement.
ABF designates poultry that is not injected with any antibiotics or hormones. Organic chicken also adheres to ABF standards, as well as Department of Agriculture standards for organic poultry.
Empire also announced recently that new equipment design would enable the company to increase its peak production volume from 350,000 chickens per week to nearly 800,000. — jta
Seattle Jewish soldier killed in Afghanistan
A Jewish soldier from the Seattle area was killed in a Taliban attack on a U.S. Army base in Afghanistan.
Pvt. Aaron Fairbairn, 20, of Aberdeen, Wash., was killed July 4 when an insurgent drove a truck full of explosives into the base in eastern Afghanistan and detonated it.
Fairbairn’s stepfather, David Masters, made the news public July 4 using Twitter shortly after receiving the news in a visit by an Army chaplain, according to reports. The Defense Department released the identities of the two soldiers killed in the attack on July 6. — jta
Agriprocessors plant ready to be sold
The troubled Iowa meatpacker Agri-processors is set to be sold. A court-appointed trustee for the company, which filed for bankruptcy months after a massive immigration raid last year, filed documents June 23 recommending that Agriprocessors be sold to a Canadian company owned by an observant Jew.
The newly formed company, SHF Industries, is headed by Montreal businessman Hershey Friedman, the president of Polystar Packing. A judge needs to approve the deal for the sale to go through.
Once the largest kosher meat producer in the United States, Agriprocessors has been operating at a fraction of its capacity since the May 2008 raid, which trained a national spotlight on the issue of illegal immigration and forced the Jewish community to grapple with issues relating to the ethical treatment of workers at Jewish-owned businesses. — jta