SMITHFIELD, Va. — Smithfield Foods is closing the last smokehouse that creates the genuine Smithfield ham — the signature product of a Virginia town of 8,300 people.
The ham has been an area staple since the English colonists arrived in nearby Jamestown in the early 1600s. Diana Souder, a Smithfield Foods spokeswoman, said the smokehouse had reached the end of its useful life, and that the company has plenty of Smithfield hams stockpiled to satisfy immediate demand.
"We're currently meeting about the future of the smokehouse and I don't have many details to share at this point," Souder wrote in an email to The Washington Post. "Should know more in the coming weeks."
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