Bumble Bee Seafood: Plant Worker Cooked to Death

A Tragic Death at California Seafood Plant

By Jean-Paul McDonald, Farms.com

Santa Fe Springs, California – A 62 year-old employee at Bumble Bee Foods Seafood was found dead on Thursday morning in what appears to be a tragic accident. According to spokeswoman Erika Monterroza of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, Jose Malena “was fatally injured when he was cooked in an oven,".

Malena, 62, was found dead inside an industrial cooking device known as a “steamer machine” when police and fire personnel responded to a 911 call from the facility. There are no confirmed reports indicating how the fatal incident occurred or whether there were any workplace safety regulatory violations. Operations at the Santa Fe Springs plant are suspended until Monday while investigation into the incident continues.

Bumble Bee Foods spokesman Pat Menke released the following statement to KTLA.com following the tragedy "The entire Bumble Bee Foods family is saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Malena family,".