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FSIS, JBS Swift – “Where is the Beef?”
Would you Mind Telling the Public Where the E. coli Beef is BEFORE the 4th
of July?
Source
of Article: http://www.marlerblog.com/
The good/bad thing
about hitting 50ish, and litigating food poisoning cases for 16 years, is
the institutional memory that I have developed regarding bad food and bad
commercials.
Coming days before the
4th of July barbeque's, JBS Swift Beef Company expanded the approximately
40,000 pounds of “assorted beef primals” recalled on June 24 to include
another approximately 380,000 pounds of “assorted beef primals" due
to E. coli O157:H7 contamination. Somewhere between 18 and 24
Illnesses have been reported in what is believed to be Arizona,
California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska,
Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin? As reported
by the Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS):
The beef products were
produced on April 21, 2009 and were distributed both nationally and
internationally. Each box bears the establishment number "EST.
969" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the identifying
package date of "042109" and a time stamp ranging from
"0618" to "1130." However, these products were sent
to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing and
will likely not bear the establishment number "EST. 969" on
products available for direct consumer purchase. Customers with concerns
should contact their point of purchase.
The recalled products
include intact cuts of beef, such as primals, sub-primals, or boxed beef
typically used for steaks and roasts rather than ground beef. FSIS is aware
that some of these products may have been further processed into ground
products by other companies. The highest risk products for consumers are
raw ground product, trim or other non-intact product made from the
products subject to the recall.
So, where is the
recalled beef?
On August 18, 2008
after years of hand wringing, the FSIS finally put public health before
“proprietary” business interests when it made the following rule:
9 C.F.R. § 390.10
Availability of Lists of Retail Consignees during Meat or Poultry Product
Recalls
The Administrator of
the Food Safety and Inspection Service will make publicly available the
names and locations of retail consignees of recalled meat or poultry
products that the Agency compiles in connection with a recall where there
is a reasonable probability that the use of the product could cause
serious adverse health consequences or death.
The full rule can be
reviewed at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/2005-0028F.pdf
The Bottom Line:
The FSIS is now
supposed to make available to the public names and locations of retail
consignees (grocery stores, etc.) of meat and poultry products recalled
by a federally-inspected meat or poultry establishment if the recalled
product has been distributed to the retail level. The rule will
only apply to Class I recalls (like the JBS Swift ones). The information
is supposed to be posted on the FSIS website, generally within three (3)
to ten (10) working days, following the announcement of the recall.
So, where is the
recalled beef?
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