Workers at Duke’s Mayonnaise plant in SC test positive for coronavirus

This story was updated at 5:28 p.m. to include information from SCDHEC.

Workers at a Duke’s Mayonnaise plant in South Carolina have become infected with the coronavirus, the company confirmed Thursday.

Several employees at the Greenville County facility have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement from Martin Kelly, CEO of Duke’s parent company, Sauer Brands. He did not specify how many employees have tested positive as of July 9.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said it received reports of five COVID-19 cases among workers associated with the Duke’s Mayonnaise plant between March 20 and June 19.

Sauer has been “aggressive and diligent” in following guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control — including “social distancing, requiring masks, frequent hand-washing, contact tracing, installation of temperature scanners” and more, Kelly said.

“Nonetheless, at our Mauldin plant we have had some employees test positive for COVID-19 and we’ve taken aggressive action as a result, including temporary closure of our facility for deep cleaning and providing mandatory testing among potentially exposed employees,” he said.

More than 100 workers at about a dozen meat-packing plants in South Carolina have tested positive for coronavirus, The State reported last week. Packing plants are considered prime spots for the spread of the illness among workers. Some facilities rely on production lines in which workers are often bunched closely together, and pushed to process a certain number of animal carcasses, produce items or food products in short periods of time. Workers who get infected outside the plants can bring the virus in and infect others.

Sauer did not answer questions from The State about how many employees had been infected and when the company first learned of the cases. The South Carolina Department of Labor Licensing Regulation said Thursday it had not received any complaints from workers at the Duke’s mayo plant. The agency oversees the state’s workplace safety division, the S.C. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Kelly said products from the facility are OK for consumption.

“The safety of our products has never been in jeopardy, and we continue to work hard to meet the growing demand while ensuring the well-being of our people, who are our most valuable asset,” he said.

Sauer Brands was acquired in 2019 by Falfurrias Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Charlotte, N.C., the Greenville News reported. The mayonnaise plant was one of the city of Mauldin’s largest employers in 2018, with 446 employees, city data show. In April, the company furloughed 97 workers due to the pandemic, according to the Greenville News. The facility sits in a South Carolina hot zone for coronavirus transmission.

Greenville County has had a total of 6, 435 confirmed COVID-19 cases, although there could be thousands more unidentified, according to the state health department.

Kelly said employees who test positive for COVID-19 are required to complete a 14-day quarantine, with pay. The company will also require new and temporary workers at the facility to submit negative COVID-19 tests before reporting to work at the facility, he said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the city where the Duke’s plant is located. It is Mauldin, South Carolina. (Updated: 10:04 a.m., 07/10/20)

Sammy Fretwell contributed to this report.

This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.