June 16, 2014

US Representative requested for briefing on recalled beef issue   

US Representative, Rosa DeLauro, has requested a briefing with Acting Under Secretary for Food Safety, Brian Ronholm, in regards to recalled beef allegedly contaminated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).

The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that the Fruitland American Meat of Jackson had issued a recall of approximately 4,012 pounds of fresh beef products as the dorsal root ganglia may not have been completely removed, which is not compliant with agency regulations which require their removal in cattle 30 months of age and older.

Although the agency said that none of the animals displayed signs of BSE before slaughter, the dorsal root ganglia is one set of tissues that may contain the infective agent.

The potentially tainted meat went to a Whole Foods distribution center in Connecticut and to two restaurants in New York City and Kansas City, DeLauro wrote in her letter to Ronholm.

The recalled beef product was produced between Sept. 5, 2013, and April 24, 2014.

In her letter, DeLauro questioned about the 10 months taken to discover the problem, citing other recent examples of beef recalls over an extended period of time, such as the Wolverine Packing Co. and the Rancho Feeding Corporation recalls.