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Four Utah farm families are incurring expenses that could place them in financial straits as federal inspectors decide what to do with more than 3,000 hogs that ate tainted feed.
For the past three weeks, four farm families in northern Utah have been awaiting a decision from officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on whether the hogs may be sent to slaughter.
Federal officials in turn, are conducting tests to ensure that the meat is not tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical mixed into animal feed from ingredients imported from China.
The farmers cannot use tainted feed they have already paid for - up to $10,000 in some cases, said Haven Hendricks, executive director of the Utah Pork Producers Association.
Lawsuits to recoup losses from the tainted feed could take three to five years - without assurances of any reimbursement, said Hendricks. The feed has since been hauled off to a landfill.
In addition, continued delays on whether to release the hogs for slaughter have sent the weight of the animals soaring, pegging the meat in a lower-priced category and forcing the farmers to ship the animals out of state for processing.
"These people are victims," said Hendricks. "If this goes on much longer they won't have the cash flow they need and things will begin to happen that some might not be able to recover from."
Kenneth Petersen, assistant administrator with the USDA'sĀ Food Safety and Inspection Service, said during a teleconference from Washington, D.C. on Thursday that tests should be completed soon but he did not give a date.