SFD Smithfield Foods, Inc.

McDonald's Corporation has selected Smithfield Foods as one of its 2012 Global Best of Sustainable Supply Chain winners for its ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of its employees. With an injury rate of just 4.66, Smithfield is 32.5% below the average for beef and pork processors, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Smithfield Foods was one of 51 recipients from more than 400 worldwide entries. McDonald's Best of Sustainable Supply Chain winners are companies that implement innovative and effective ways to address challenges to help improve food sources, the environment, communities and employee wellness across the world.

"We're absolutely delighted about this tremendous acknowledgement from McDonald's because it underscores our commitment to continually look for innovative ways to enhance our worker safety programs," said C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods.

"Ensuring the safety of our employees is one of our greatest responsibilities and is critical to achieving our core value of being an employer of choice," said Dennis H. Treacy, executive vice president and chief sustainability officer of Smithfield Foods.

Treacy pointed out Smithfield Foods has implemented a number of policies and programs to address employee safety, including the Employee Injury Prevention Management System (EIPMS) and the Behavioral Risk Improvement (BRI) process. Both processes are regularly updated and designed to minimize potential risks and improve business performance.

"These employee safety efforts have been a tremendous success, as evidenced by the fact that we regularly outperform OSHA benchmarks for the meatpacking industry. We continue to demonstrate year-over-year performance improvements as we move closer to our goal of achieving injury rates below those of all private industry occupations," Treacy added. 

"The submissions this year demonstrate that McDonald's supply chain is world class in its ability to provide safe, sustainable, and assured supply of food," said Jose Amario, executive vice president, McDonald's Global Supply Chain, Development & Franchising. "We sincerely appreciate all of our suppliers' efforts."

Take a look at our full submission and the steps we've taken to ensure employee health and safety or visit http://www.smithfieldcommitments.com/core-reporting-areas/employees/.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $13 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Farmland®, Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Armour® and John Morrell®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental, and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com and www.smithfieldcommitments.com.

The Smithfield Foods, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7622

CONTACT: Keira Lombardo
         (757) 365-3050
         keiralombardo@smithfieldfoods.com