Federal agency releases review of deaths at Gainesville poultry facility three years later

A photo of a poultry processing facility in Gainesville formerly owned by Foundation Food Group where six people died after being exposed to liquid nitrogen. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

It was January 2021. Workers at the former Foundation Food Group poultry processing plant in Gainesville used liquid nitrogen to freeze pre-made poultry products quickly. Liquid nitrogen escaped from a bent tube and sent up a nearly 5-foot vapor cloud.

Nitrogen is colorless and odorless.   

Three people entered the room and died immediately of asphyxiation. Several more people rushed to help their coworkers, while two more died on-site and one on the way to the hospital.