POSTVILLE - The nation's largest kosher meat packing plant is under scrutiny from a labor union for food safety practices.

The United Food and Commercial Workers issued a report Thursday claiming Agriprocessors in Postville was cited 250 times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Safety Inspection Service. The alleged violations of safety and sanitary regulations fell between January 2006 and Jan. 24, 2007.

The union compiled reports from the inspection service through the Freedom of Information Act. Many of the problems related to sanitation or procedures aimed at preventing food-borne disease.

James Blau, assistant director of the union's strategic research department, described the results as "alarming" during a telephone press conference Thursday.

"Our concern is that this type of behavior can reflect poorly on the industry as a whole," Blau said.

Sholom Rubashkin, Agriprocessors vice president, said the allegations "paint an unfair picture" of the company's operations. Agriprocessors works closely with USDA inspectors at its six plants, including the one in Postville, he said.

"Each of the claims brought forward by this labor union have been addressed," Rubashkin said. "Furthermore, the (Food and Safety Inspection Service) has verified we are currently in compliance and there are no current food safety issues associated with any of our products."

About 7,600 federal inspectors work daily in 6,000 facilities nationwide, performing a variety of duties, said Amanda Eamich, spokeswoman for the inspection service. When a company violates food safety regulations, officials issue a citation known as a noncompliance record. Companies are required to act immediately.

The records can vary from simple things, like condensation on an overhead air duct, to more serious concerns, like ignoring safety procedures aimed at preventing food-borne diseases.

Eamich said the number of records generated aren't as relevant as what problems are cited. That is especially true since an inspector could have as many as 10,000 assignments per year at a plant.

"The number isn't a factor here," she said. "You have to know all of the other information - like how much they produce, how many days they operate - with a larger facility."

The union's report pointed to 17 cases where noncompliance records were issued for rodent problems; fecal and bile contamination of beef and chicken products; and foreign objects, including metal, found during sausage and chicken production.

Five noncompliance records were issued in eight months after inspectors found the company wasn't following guidelines established to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease.

The disease eats holes in the brains of cattle and is incurable. Humans can develop a similar variant called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after eating infected beef.

Agriprocessors also had to issue two recalls for food products that were either undercooked or mislabeled, according to the report.

Eamich said the plant is in full compliance.

Agriprocessors employees do not have a union plant. However, the United Food and Commercial Workers has been trying to organize employees for more than eight months, union officials said.

Jim Papian, the union's communications director, said the union began looking at Agriprocessors' operations more closely after hearing complaints from workers about conditions inside the plant. Those complaints varied from poor health and safety records to an allegedly hostile working environment.

Union officials, Papian said, believe the issues are directly related to other problems at the plant.

"Safety records also reflect the way workers are treated," Papian said.

Contact Josh Nelson at (319) 291-1565 or josh.nelson@wcfcourier.com.