Sampco, Inc., in Chicago, Illinois is recalling approximately 61,000 pounds of cooked canned and frozen beef products that may contain the animal drug Ivermectin, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Friday (Jun 25).

 

In May, FSIS discovered residues of Ivermectin, an antiparasitic used to de-worm live animals, above the US FDA's tolerance level for beef muscle in products from Brazil which sparked an 87,000 pound Class II recall, with low health risk, for related beef products, also from Sampco. The agency believes the recently-recalled product may have entered the country through a separate route of entry.

 

The previous recall - and a series of other positive tests in March - caused around two dozen Brazilian beef processing facilities to become delisted. The Brazilian government voluntarily banned exporting processed beef to the US in late May until possible testing discrepancies could be worked out.     

 

"Based on Brazil's voluntary suspension of export for cooked beef products, FSIS has broadened its ongoing investigation," said the agency. "FSIS may take further regulatory action as it continues its investigation."

 

Food & Water Watch, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organisation, urged the agency to look into whether some of Invermectin-contaminated products were in the marketplace.

 

It believes that the drug residues could pose a risk to public health, pointing to a USDA Inspector General report on drug residues in meat that lists neurotoxicity as a potential health effect from Ivermectin exposure.

 

The FSIS said it has received no reports of illness of adverse reactions.