Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 11/16/11

The Humane Society of the United States turned up the volume on its campaign for Smithfield Foods Inc. to resume its transition away from gestation crates for sows by filing a legal notice with the company “that it will exercise its right as a corporate shareholder to inspect company records” related to the hog production initiative, HSUS said in a press release.

Two weeks ago, HSUS filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging that Smithfield Foods had “falsely convey[ed] that Smithfield has higher animal welfare and environmental standards than it actually does.” 

At issue is a commitment that Smithfield made in 2007 to stop using gestation crates for its sows by 2017, a program that was suspended for economic reasons in 2009 amidst net losses for the company. HSUS also questions the veracity of the data Smithfield already has released about the conversion program.

In response, Smithfield distributed a release that said, in part, "There is no legal basis for this demand made by HSUS to Smithfield. We believe this is yet another unsubstantiated attempt by this organization to support its cause. Here are the facts:

• Smithfield Foods was the first major producer in our industry (which includes over 60,000 producers) to publicly commit to converting sow housing to group pens.
• While the conversion slowed during the recent recession, at our September 2010 shareholders meeting, Smithfield publicly announced that significant resources had again been committed to the conversion.
• The conversion is ongoing, and we remain on track to have converted 30% of our company-owned sow farms to pen-style housing by the end of 2011. We will update our continuing progress and post that information on our websites.”

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