Nearly 90,000 pounds of contaminated beef recalled in US
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that Huisken Meat Company – a subsidiary of Branding Iron – was forced to recall the beef products due to the possibility that they may have been contaminated with small fragments of wood.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Monday 4 January 2016, that it was recalling the Sam’s Choice Black Angus Beef Patties, made between 19 November and 9 December 2015.
Bark burgers
It was feared the burgers had been contaminated with what FSIS described as “extraneous wood material” – essentially tiny splinters of wood.
It is believed the foreign matter derived from an ingredient that came to the warehouse from another suppler. This ingredient was mixed with the patties and discovery of the contaminated burgers was only made mid-way through production.
The product has reportedly been shipped to 17 US states.
FSIS said there had been no confirmed cases so far of people demonstrating “adverse reactions” due to the consumption of the Huisken Meat Company beef burgers.
The 2lb boxes containing six pieces of ‘Sam’s Choice Black Angus Beef Patties with 19% Vidalia Onion’ have a use-by date of 17 May, 29 May or 6 June 2016. Consumers who find they have bought this product are advised to throw it away or return it to the place of purchase.
USDA has classified the Huisken Meat Company contaminated burgers as a Class Two incident: a health hazard, but one with a remote possibility of consumers suffering adverse effects.
Huisken Meat Company producers frozen beef burgers for retail stores such as Walmart. It also supplies private-label patties for grocery wholesalers and distributors.
The company was unable to provide comment on the issue.
