50,000 Pounds Of Food Destroyed After Employee Is Caught Urinating Near Assembly Line

If you are sitting down to a meal, perhaps bookmark this story for later reading. In what Smithfield Foods describes as an "isolated incident," one of its employees was caught on video urinating near a food-processing assembly line at a plant in Virginia. News station WAVY reports the incident occurred over the weekend, and Smithfield Foods confirmed it Tuesday.

The company says it immediately halted production and has since destroyed 50,000 of food that could have been affected. Additionally, Smithfield suspended the employee "pending the outcome of a complete investigation."

A video from inside the plant, posted by WAVY and other news sites, appears to show the employee near the assembly line removing his gloves, then pulling down his pants. Machinery obscures views of anything below the waist.

"The facility immediately halted production, fully cleaned the processing line, and sanitized all equipment multiple times before resuming operations," a Smithfield spokesperson told WAVY.

The U.S. Department Of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service is also reportedly investigating the matter, though it hasn't yet announced any action.