Slim Jim Factory Explodes, Kills Three, Requires HazMat Team [Spicy Meats]

Slim Jim Factory Explodes, Kills Three, Requires HazMat Team [Spicy Meats]

via Consumerist by Lucy Bayly on 6/11/09

A ConAgra plant near Raleigh, N.C., that makes and packages Slim Jim beef jerky was rocked by a huge explosion on Tuesday, killing three employees and sending dozens of workers and three firefighters to hospital with severe burns or "exposure to toxic fumes."

ConAgra spokespeople have been quick to offer funding for workers affected by the plant collapse, but not quite quick enough to explain why the heck they need 34,000 gallons of ammonia to make a spicy meat stick in the first place.

(Your Consumerist sausage experts can tell you that ammonia is used to refrigerate the meat before it's Jimmified.)

The factory, by the way, was located on Jones Sausage Road.

"Recovery over, investigation begins" [WRAL]
Photo: sonicribbon