Agriprocessors woes hurting kosher sales

CHICAGO, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Residents in and around Chicago say their regular purchases of kosher meat products have been impacted by the business struggles of Agriprocessors Inc.

With the meat-packaging company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and facing allegations of hiring illegal immigrants, members of the Jewish community are feeling the impact of the company's struggles, the Chicago Tribune said Thursday.

"It is virtually impossible to find any cut of (kosher) beef that is under $6.99 a pound," Elaine Rothner, an Orthodox Jew who resides in Skokie, Ill., said. "It's insane. Insane."

"I used to say, 'I'm going to get these types of cuts,'" Northwestern University student Michal Raucher said of his past kosher purchases. "Now I just have to get whatever's there."

Agriprocessors has produced nearly 40 percent of kosher poultry nationwide for years, along with an estimated 60 percent of all beef, lamb and veal.

The company's plant in Postville, Iowa, was raided in May by federal agents as part of an illegal immigration case and nearly 400 workers were detained.

The Tribune said the company reopened his production facilities this month to process poultry after being closed in November.