CSB - U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
08/25/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/25/2026 13:26
CSB Releases Foundation Food Group Safety Video
Washington D.C., August 25, 2026 - Today, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released a new safety video on its investigation into the deadly January 28, 2021, liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Food Group (FFG) poultry processing plant in Gainesville, Georgia, that killed six people and seriously injured three others.
The release occurred when the bubbler tube which measured and controlled the level of liquid nitrogen in an immersion freezer at the facility was bent, causing an abnormally large amount of liquid nitrogen to be pumped into the freezer, which exceeded the freezer's capacity. The excess liquid nitrogen overflowed out of the freezer and then vaporized, forming a deadly vapor cloud inside the poorly ventilated freezer room. Two people who were in the room at the time of the release died from asphyxiation, and four additional workers also were asphyxiated and died when they entered the freezer room during the incident.
The CSB's new safety video, titled "Fatal Fog: Liquid Nitrogen Release at Foundation Food Group," includes an animation of the events leading to the incident, and commentary from CSB Board Member Sylvia Johnson, Investigator-In-Charge Drew Sahli, and Investigators Tyler Nelson and Bill Steiner.
In the video Board Member Johnson states, "Liquid nitrogen and other chemical asphyxiation incidents are preventable. Management must clearly communicate to workers hazards and emergency response measures. Safety management systems for operations that use liquid nitrogen and other asphyxiants must be improved. Doing so can prevent another tragedy like the one that occurred at Foundation Food Group."
The incident at FFG occurred on a production line that produces marinated, diced, fully cooked chicken that was then frozen using a liquid nitrogen "immersion spiral" freezer. The freezer was leased to FFG by Messer LLC (Messer), an industrial gas products company. Messer installed the freezer approximately five weeks prior to the incident, and during that time FFG experienced a series of operational problems with the equipment. Messer returned to FFG on multiple occasions to troubleshoot the issues, but the problems persisted.
On January 28, 2026, FFG halted chicken production on the line so that maintenance personnel could work on the freezer. The freezer remained on, however. At some point, the freezer's bubbler tube was bent above the overflow level of the freezer, which caused the freezer's nitrogen level control system to believe that the freezer was empty. As a result, the system continued to add liquid nitrogen to the freezer, so much that the freezer overflowed.
Once the liquid nitrogen was released, it quickly vaporized and filled the freezer room with a white fog-like cloud that persisted for more than an hour. When an FFG employee observed the two maintenance workers lying motionless on the floor of the freezer, an evacuation was initiated. During the evacuation, at least 14 other FFG employees, including members of management, responded to the incident by either investigating the freezer room or attempting to rescue their coworkers. The two maintenance workers were fatally injured by asphyxiation due to the vaporized liquid nitrogen, and four other FFG employees were fatally injured as they attempted to respond to the incident. Three other FFG employees were seriously injured.
As in the CSB's final report on the incident, the safety video covers five key safety issues that contributed to the incident: 1) single point of failure, 2) atmospheric monitoring and alarm systems, 3) emergency preparedness, 4) process safety management systems, and 5) product stewardship. In particular, as the video notes, the CSB found that FFG did not have an atmospheric monitoring and alarm system that could have alerted workers to the deadly conditions in the freezer room. FFG also did not have an effective plan for dealing with a hazardous liquid nitrogen release and did not train its employees about how to safely respond to such a release.
The video also highlights safety recommendations made by the CSB to OSHA. The recommendations to OSHA were among the 12 total recommendations made by the CSB to several entities, including OSHA, Messer, Gold Creek Foods (the current owner of the FFG facility), the Compressed Gas Association, the National Fire Protection Association, and the International Code Council.
The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating incidents and hazards that result, or may result, in the catastrophic release of extremely hazardous substances. The agency's core mission activities include conducting incident investigations; formulating preventive or mitigative recommendations based on investigation findings and advocating for their implementation; issuing reports containing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations arising from incident investigations; and conducting studies on chemical hazards.
The agency's board members are appointed by the president subject to Senate confirmation. The Board does not issue citations or fines but makes safety recommendations to companies, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.
Please visit our website, www.csb.gov. For more information, contact Communications Manager Hillary Cohen at [email protected].
CSB - U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board published this content on August 25, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on August 25, 2026 at 19:26 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]