SMITHFIELD, Va. — The Smithfield Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Smithfield Foods Inc., announced a donation of $50,000 to the Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education.

The group is a non-profit research, education and information foundation established to help produce better, safer products and to operate more efficiently in the meat and poultry industry.

“We are so pleased that Smithfield Foods has, once again, decided to generously support our core research values to enable the meat and poultry industry to produce the highest quality and safest products possible,” said Susan Backus, president, Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education. “With cooperative support from our industry partners like Smithfield, we will continue to conduct valuable research to improve our nation’s meat and poultry supply.”

During 2019, the Foundation identified several key research areas with its advisory committee including food safety, product quality, animal welfare and worker safety.

“The Foundation for Meat and Poultry Research and Education and Smithfield Foods share a common goal of providing safe and high-quality products for customers,” said Keira Lombardo, executive vice president of corporate affairs and compliance for Smithfield Foods and president of the Smithfield Foundation.