In May of 2018 Dennis Wyatt, a reporter for the Manteca Bulletin newspaper, wrote a story about the foul smells emitted from the Spreckles Sugar processing plant on the SW edge of the city limits. He wrote twenty-two years ago Spreckels Sugar — which was intertwined with Manteca’s prosperity and history for 75 years — fell victim to changing sugar beet economics and tougher California air quality rules. The sugar refinery employed 230 full-time and part-time workers when it was shuttered on Jan. 9, 1996.
At one time Manteca was identified by travelers on both Highway 99 and the 120 Bypass by both the sight and smell of Spreckels Sugar. The four 15-story sugar silos were the tallest structures around while the smell from the processing — and the use of sugar pulp to fatten cattle at the adjacent Moffat Feed Lot — created an aroma that penetrated even the thickest fog to let travelers know they were passing through Manteca.
Jeffrey (Beaver) Brown was a DJ at KDJK in Oakdale and frequently experienced the foul smell which led him to produce a music video parody set to the tune of “Funky Cold Medina”.
