iiiii United States Department of A!:!riculture 

Food Safety and 

Inspection Service 

Office of Field Operations 

Philadelphia District 

Mellon Independence 

Center, 

701 Market Street Suite 

4100-A 

Philadelphia, PA 19106 

Hand Delivered by SPHV 

Electronically Submitted on March 3, 2023 

FedEx Tracking: 7714 6389 8064 

Mr. Nicholas Phillips, Vice President of Operations 

Gold Medal Packing (Est. M17965) 

8301 River Road 

Rome, New York 13440 

nphillips@raiseamerican.com 

danguzza@gmpveal.com 

(315) 337-1911 

NOTICE OF SUSPENSION HELD IN ABEYANCE 

Dear Mr. Phillips, 

This letter serves as official notification by the Food Safety and Inspection 

Service (FSIS) of our decision to place the suspension action at Gold Medal 

Packing, Establishment M17965, located at 8301 River Road, Rome, New York 

13440 in abeyance. This letter follows verbal notification of the abeyance action, 

provided by Mr. Joseph Schein, Deputy District Manager (DDM) to Mr. Dave 

Anguzza, General Manager (Est. M17965) at approximately 1735 hours on 

Thursday, March 2, 2023. 

The decision to institute the abeyance was made in accordance with the Rules of 

Practice, Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations (9 CFR) Part 500.5 part (e). 

In response to the Notice of Suspension (NOS), you submitted proposed 

corrective actions and preventative measures on March 02, 2023. On March 02, 

2023, FSIS requested clarification on the responses. On March 02, 2023, you 

submitted responses to the clarification request which included corrective 

actions and program updates. 

Your corrective and preventative measures include but are not limited to: 

1. Counseling and Retraining of all kill floor personnel. Retraining 

occurred on March 2, 2023. A copy of the training log was provided and 

contained employee(s) attestation. Retraining consisted of the following: 

a. How to determine Insensibility (Unconsciousness) in Cattle, Pigs, 

and Sheep in Slaughter Plants. (Revised June 2017) 

b. FSIS Humane Handling Consciousness and stunning. 

c. Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines & Audit Guide: A 

Systematic Approach to Animal Welfare (June 2017) 

2. Only trained employees will be allowed to work in the slaughter 

process. This list will be kept by plant management and provided to IPP 
 

 

 

 

upon request. Training will continue to occur quarterly at a minimum and at a 

greater frequency based on any needs perceived by the auditing and monitoring 

team. 

3. Secondary, Mandatory security stun – A secondary, security stun will be 

administered as a mandatory practice and will be included in the written Humane 

Handling program 

4. Employees will be under daily supervision and observation of an in-house 

auditor at the start of production, and after return from breaks in production at a 

minimum of 3 times per production shift. Monitoring to be performed by one of 

the following: Food Safety Manager, Plant Manager, Quality Control, or the 

Slaughter Supervisor. Monitoring will consist of observation at each step of 

slaughter prior to dressing: 

a. Initial stun and sensibility check. Observation and documentation of 

25 animals for proper administration of the initial stun, immediate check 

for signs of sensibility to ensure single shot efficacy 

b. Security Stun. Observation and documentation of 10 animals for 

administration of proper security stun and placement followed by an 

additional sensibility check. 

c. Shackle station. Observation and documentation 10 animals for of 

third sensibility check post stun after the calf drops from the restrainer 

onto the conveyer, prior to shackling 

d. Railing and Bleeding. Observation and documentation of 10 animals 

for final Sensibility check by bleeder prior to administering the bleed. 

e. Form GMP- Humane Handling Rev. 1 will be used to document the 

monitoring activities. 

5. Four heads will be randomly selected each calf slaughter day and split to 

determine angle and effectiveness of stun. Splitting of the heads will utilized as an 

effective training and evaluation tool. 

FSIS has carefully reviewed your responses and made the decision to place the NOS in 

abeyance. FSIS has designed a Verification Plan (VP), and Inspection Program 

Personnel (IPP) will use it to monitor and verify that you have effectively implemented 

your proposed actions. The VP identifies your corrective actions based on your 

responses, the relevant regulatory requirements, the tasks IPP will use to conduct 

verification activities, and the time frames that you identified. IPP will continue to ensure 

all humane handling/stunning regulatory requirements of 9 CFR Part 313 are in 

regulatory compliance. We have attached a copy of the VP to assist you as a reference 

during the Agency’s verification activities. 

A final decision relative to this enforcement action will be determined based on your 

establishment’s ability to execute and comply with your proffered corrective actions and 

all applicable regulatory requirements. Your establishment’s failure to meet the 

conditions of this abeyance may result in additional regulatory and/or administrative 

actions in accordance with the Rules of Practice 9 CFR Part 500. 

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact Mr. Joseph 

Schein, DDM, via electronic mail at joseph.schein@usda.gov or by telephone at (267) 

355-9761. Additionally, you can contact the Philadelphia District Office at (800) 637-

6681or by fax at (215) 597-4217. 

Sincerely, Digitally signed 

CHELSEA by CHELSEA 

BUCKLEY BUCKLEY Date: 2023.03.03 

09:29:14 -05'00' 

Mr. Jason Orlando 

District Manager 

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer 
Gold medal Packing (EST Ml7965) Verification Plan 

March 3, 2023 

ESTABLISHMENT ACTION PLAN 9CFR 

REGULATION 

HUMANE 

HANDLING 

VERIFICATION 

CATEGORY 

FREQUENCY 

Only trained establishment personnel will be 

allowed to perfonn stunning. A list ofthese 

trnined personnel will be kept on file and 

available for IPP review. 

Note: Training will continue to occur 

qmuierly at a minimlllll and at a greater 

frequency based on any needs perceived by 

the auditing and monitoring team 

313.15 Catego1y VIII -

Stunning 

effectiveness 

Upon 

implementation, 

March 3, 2023, and 

Each slaughter day. 

A secondaiy , security stun will be 

administered as a mandato1y practice and 

will be included m the written Humane 

Handling program. Establishment personnel 

will perfo1m the security stun after 

sensibility check from initial stun, check for 

shot placement, and observe for any signs of 

sensibility. 

313.15 Catego1y VIII -

Stunning 

effectiveness 

Upon 

implementation, 

March 3, 2023, and 

Each slaughter day 

The in-house auditor ( one ofthe following: 

Food Safety Manager, Plant Manager, 

Quality Control, or Slaughter Supervisor) 

will monitor (observe): 

1) 25 animals for initial stunning 

effectiveness. 

2) 10 animals for security stun. 

3) 10 for signs ofsensibility at shackle 

station. 

4) 10 at sticking station for signs of 

sensibility. 

This will be perfo1med three (3) times daily 

and recorded on the Animal Stunning & 

Insensibility Record (Fonn GMP- Humane 

Handling Rev. 1) 

313 .15 Catego1y VIII -

Stunning 

effectiveness 

Upon 

implementation, 

March 3, 2023, and 

Each slaughter day 

Each production day, establishment 

personnel will randomly select four (4) heads 

and split to dete1mine placement and 

effectiveness ( observations of both the angle 

and result of the stun). 

313.15 Catego1y VIII -

Stunning 

effectiveness 

Upon 

implementation, 

March 3, 2023, and 

Each slaughter 

(pneumatic 

stunning/calf) day 

Humane handling verification every slaughter operation day to verify the adequacy and effectiveness ofthe establishment's 

compliance with the humane handling regulatory requirements of9 CFR Part 313. 

*Inspection Program Personnel will review all monitoring, verification, and corrective action records to verify procedures 

are being conducted as prescribed and at the specified frequency. 

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer 
Cc: 

Ms. Melissa Moore, EARO, FSIS, OFO, Washington, DC 

Mr. Jason Orlando, DM, FSIS, OFO, Philadelphia Disti·ict Office 

Mr. Joseph Priore, RD, FSIS, OIEA, Northeast Region 

Mr. Jose h Schein, DDM, FSIS, OFO, Philadelphia Disu-ict Office 

, SEIAO OFO Philadelphia District Office 

DCS, OFO, Philadelphia Disti·ict Office 

, DVMS, FSIS, OFO Philadelphia District Office 

, DVMS, FSIS, OFO Philadelphia Disti·ict Office 

, FLS, FSIS, OFO, Philadelphia Disu-ict 

SPHV, FSIS, OFO, Philadelphia Disti-ict 

1cia F1 es Establishment Folder - Est. Ml7965 

FSIS - FO/Quarterly Enforcement Report 

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer