Hot dog plant loses juice

COLUMBIA - The Columbia Foods plant lost power briefly Tuesday between 9 and 11 a.m., bringing the hot dog maker’s production to a halt.

John Strotbeck, manager of the plant at 4600 Waco Road, described the power outage as a “minor incident,” caused by something outside the plant.

The city of Columbia’s Public Works department has been unable to confirm the cause of the outage.

An hour after electricity was returned to the hot dog making facility, plant officials were still evaluating whether any hot dogs were damaged during the outage, Strotbeck said.

The Columbia Foods plant opened in 1985 with two Continuous Weiner Process (CWP) lines, later expanding its production capability to include two additional weiner-making lines, according to the company’s Web site.

Columbia Foods is a local subsidiary of Kraft Foods and employs about 600 people. Kraft markets Oscar Mayer weiners.