Pilgrim's Pride Corporation Launches Enhanced Avian Influenza Testing Program
PITTSBURG, Texas, Jan 05, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NYSE: PPC), the nation's second-largest chicken company, today announced that it will participate in a testing program to further ensure consumers that its chicken flocks and the food products made from them remain free of potentially hazardous forms of avian influenza.
Under this program, which was developed by the National Chicken Council (NCC), Pilgrim's Pride will test each flock to ensure that it is free of potentially hazardous forms of avian influenza well before any of its flocks are introduced into its processing plants.
"Through comprehensive testing covering all flocks, participating chicken companies will add yet another layer to the multiple barriers that already exist to protect domestic and international consumers of U.S.-produced chicken products, and will continue to ensure the safety and quality of the chicken originating from the United States," said Stephen Pretanik, director of science and technology for NCC. "With this program, the National Chicken Council continues the trade association's longstanding history of being in the forefront in leading the world in promoting world-class processing, animal health and safety practices among its membership, thus assuring both the American and International consumers that U.S.-produced chicken products remain as the highest quality products in the world."
O.B. Goolsby, president and chief executive officer of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, commented, "As always, our top priority at Pilgrim's Pride continues to be providing the safest, nutritious, healthy and affordable product for consumers and to ensure the health and well being of our flocks, employees and contract growers. Our customers know that they can count on us to provide healthy, high-quality poultry products, and our voluntary participation in this testing program demonstrates our total commitment to this goal. While there has never been any danger of acquiring the virus from eating normally and properly cooked poultry, the steps being taken today will assure our customers that none of our chickens, should they somehow contract one of these viruses, will ever enter a processing plant, thus adding a further layer of protection to consumers."
For more information on this topic, please visit http://www.avianinfluenzainfo.com .
About the National Chicken Council
The National Chicken Council (NCC) represents integrated chicken producer- processors, the companies that produce, process and market chickens. Member companies of NCC account for approximately 95 percent of the chicken sold in the United States.
About Pilgrim's Pride Corporation
Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is the second-largest poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and the largest chicken producer in Puerto Rico. Pilgrim's Pride employs more than 40,000 people and has major operations in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Mexico and Puerto Rico, with other facilities in Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Utah and Wisconsin.
Pilgrim's Pride products are sold to foodservice, retail and frozen entree customers. The Company's primary distribution is through retailers, foodservice distributors and restaurants throughout the United States and Puerto Rico and in the Northern and Central regions of Mexico. For more information, please visit http://www.pilgrimspride.com .
Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements contained in this press release that state the intentions, hopes, beliefs, anticipations, expectations or predictions of the future of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation and its management are forward-looking statements. It is important to note that the actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward- looking statements include: matters affecting the poultry industry generally, including fluctuations in the commodity prices of feed ingredients, chicken and turkey; additional outbreaks of avian influenza or other diseases, either in our own flocks or elsewhere, affecting our ability to conduct or operations and/or demand for our poultry products; contamination of our products, which has recently and can in the future lead to product liability claims and product recalls; exposure to risks related to product liability, product recalls, property damage and injuries to persons, for which insurance coverage is expensive, limited and potentially inadequate changes in laws or regulations affecting our operations or the application thereof; competitive factors and pricing pressures or the loss of one or more of our largest customers; currency exchange rate fluctuations, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriation and other risks associated with foreign operations; management of our cash resources, particularly in light of our leverage, and restrictions imposed by and as a result of, our leverage; and the impact of uncertainties of litigation as well as other risks described under "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pilgrim's Pride Corporation undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE Pilgrim's Pride Corporation
For further information contact: Ray AtkinsonPilgrim's Pride Corporation
(540) 896-0406
Ray Atkinson of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, +1-540-896-0406
http://www.prnewswire.com
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