Worker cooked to death at California tuna plant
SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a 62-year-old employee was cooked to death at a Southern California seafood plant for tuna maker Bumble Bee Foods.
The Whittier Daily News reports Jose Melena was found shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday at the plant in Santa Fe Springs.
Erika Monterroza is a spokeswoman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. She says it's unclear how the man ended up inside a cooking device called a "steamer machine."
The state agency has launched an investigation.
Bumble Bee Foods spokesman Pat Menke expressed condolences to Melena's family in a written statement. Menke says operations at the canning facility will be suspended until Monday.
The Whittier Daily News reports Jose Melena was found shortly before 7 a.m. Thursday at the plant in Santa Fe Springs.
Erika Monterroza is a spokeswoman for the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. She says it's unclear how the man ended up inside a cooking device called a "steamer machine."
The state agency has launched an investigation.
Bumble Bee Foods spokesman Pat Menke expressed condolences to Melena's family in a written statement. Menke says operations at the canning facility will be suspended until Monday.
in the cannery I worked at there was a guy that got locked into the walk in canner years before. So it happens
Shessh...and here I was worried about getting Dolphin in the mix!
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Yummm...fresh grilled José and Cheese!
It will be interesting if they report how it happened? Did he have health issues and fall in? Some of the things that happen in places that handle food, you really do not want to think about. Canneries, Kitchens, Fast food joints...just close your eyes and eat.
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 @Tanbor Fudgely so you know that this was an illegal alien? how do you know this, he was Hispanic but no where in the article does it indicate that he was here illegally.  If only "Americans" worked in these plants you wouldn't be able to afford a can a tuna at $4.00 a can or canned veggies and fruit at the same price, this would also apply to fresh fruits and veggies you would be paying about $5.00/lb, because American's think that this kind of work is beneath them and refuse to do this type on menial labor.Â
How CAN something like this happen? CAN they prevent this from happening again?
I don't know if I CAN eat tuna ever again.
 @Agent Sydney Bristow Back in the eighties I remember a report on canned tuna as something that stopped me from eating the stuff for many yrs. The report was all about the OTHER things that are commonly found in canned tuna, bugs of all kinds from spiders, moths, flies and bird droppings etc. Enjoy your tuna!
 @swimbad  @Agent Sydney Bristow Thank you I will enjoy Tuna and for those that are paranoid about eating tuna, you better stop eating anything that comes from any processing plant.Â
"Ask any tuna you happen to see, what's the best tuna.."
 @Derek2mk "I don't know, beats me!"
 @Derek2mk "Chicken Of The Sea"!
I wonder how many cans hit the store and were sold before this came out?
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Everyone was "stung" by this accident.
And you think your day sucked ...
OMG...Â
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 @swimbad Seriously... black humor is one thing, but dude... that is just moronic and offensive.
 @Peregrine  @swimbad And yer sayin' that if it had been a black person I could say "Yum, tuna briquettes"?Â
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I don't think so, but thanks for flagging anyway.
Remind me not to eat Bumble Bee tuna. Lord only knows what goes into are foods. Geez!
 @jallard It would certainly give new meaning to Betty Crocker's Tuna HELPER.
@jallard I worked in a cannery during the summers when I was going to college. After that experience I didn't knowingly eat anything that came out of a can for at least 10 years. You would be surprised what occurs in canning operations and what is allowed by law.Â
 @I812  @jallard I worked a summer in the kitchen of the Portland Hilton.  Don't think the shock and awe is limited to the cannery.