Meat Recall in California: One Year’s Worth of Beef ‘Unfit for Human Consumption’
Northern California meat processor Rancho Feeding Corp., has issued a massive meat recall for more than 8.7 million pounds of beef products that failed to undergo the proper federal inspection procedures.
The Class 1 “High Risk” recall comes after samples of the meat products were found to have come from animals who were too diseased or unhealthy to meet federal safety requirements.
According to ABCNews, Rancho Feeding Corp., “has been under scrutiny by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. The agency said that without full inspection, the recalled products are unfit for human consumption.”
The beef products in question were processed between Jan. 1, 2013, through Jan. 7, 2014—which is more than a year’s worth of production for the company—and shipped throughout California, Texas, Illinois and Florida, reports ABCNews. “[The shipments] include beef carcasses, oxtail, liver, cheeks, tripe, tongue and veal bones.”
So far, no reports of illnesses associated with the meat have been reported, notes ABCNews.
According to Food Safety News:
Beef carcasses and boxes bear the establishment number “EST. 527″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. Each box bears the case code number ending in “3” or “4.” The products were produced January 1, 2013 through January 7, 2014 and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
Ongoing investigations of the Rancho facilities led to the recall, and just last month, an additional 40,000 pounds of meat products were recalled for failure to undergo full inspection. “The problems were discovered as part of an ongoing investigation,” the FSIS said.
Food Safety News reports on how to identify those products:
All products bear the establishment number “EST. 527″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. Each box bears the case code number “ON9O4.” The products were produced Jan. 8, 2014, and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California.
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