Health

Huntington Meat Packing: Beef Recall of 390 tonnes US Ground Beef

by Scott Wu | January 18, 2010 at 04:50 pm

1309 views | 14 Recommendations | 6 comments

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that Huntington Meat Packing Inc. is recalling approximately 864,000 pounds (390 tonnes) of beef products that may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. All ground beef products produced from January 5, 2010 to January 15, 2010 are recalled:

40 lb. boxes of "Huntington Meats Ground Beef"
40 lb. boxes of "HUNTINGTON MEAT PKG. INC. BEEF GROUND FOR FURTHER PROCESSING"
40 lb. boxes of "BEEF BURRITO FILLING MIX"
10 lb. boxes of "IMPERIAL MEAT CO. GROUND BEEF PATTY"
20 lb. boxes of "IMPERIAL MEAT CO. GROUND BEEF PATTY"
10 lb. boxes of "El Rancho MEAT & PROVISION ALL BEEF PATTIES"

Each box would have the establishment number "EST. 17967" inside the USDA mark of inspection. The potentially tainted beef products were shipped to distribution centers ,restaurants, and hotels in California. No illness has been reported, but individuals should contact physicians if they are concerned an illness.

During a follow-up review, FSIS determined that products produced from February 19, 2008 to May 15, 2008 are also subject to recall because of E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium. It can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, elderly, and people with weak immue systems are most susceptible to illness.

Media and consumer questions regarding the recall should be directed to the company owner, Robert Glenn, at (888) 894-8242.

Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.

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Cory M. Grenier (not verified)

at 00:06 on January 19th, 2010

I recommend the documentary film Food Inc. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Inc to learn more about the dangerous and unhealthy processes at today's largest meat packing plants. Huntington Meat Packing Inc. has allowed poor food safety to contaminate American meat and put people at risk of E. Coli poisoning. The unsafe methods of industrial meat packing plants were clearly described in Upton Sinclair's 1906 groundbreaking book "The Jungle". It is sad that in over 100 years our FDA is not ensuring that companies like Huntington Meat Packing Inc. comply with food health and safety regulations. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair: books.google.com/books?id=5XZm3joxjDsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+jungle&client=firefox-a&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Robert11 (not verified)

at 10:38 on February 24th, 2010

There is so much spin and misleading information out there that I wanted to add some clarification to this issue. Slaughtering down cows is illegal, as it should be. In theory that should improve how the animals are raised. But the meat produce from down cows is just as healthy as from normal cows. So, the USDA should pull their inspection. That prevents Huntington from slaughtering or selling anything. It basically puts them out of business. Huntington should also be prosecuted for any and all crimes. It's the recall that's wrong, it hurts everybody except Huntington, who is already out of business. The USDA's justification for the recall is that Huntington didn't follow their HACCP plan (by slaughtering down cows). But Huntington did test the meat which proved to be just fine. Also, the companies who bought from Huntington and used the meat in burrito's, etc. also tested the meat, which proved to be fine (as far as I know). These companies, the ones that bought from Huntington and followed the USDA's rules, will go out of business because of the USDA's actions. Many of them already are. And they were the good guys. The ones trying to make healthy, safe food. Huntington was out of business as soon as the USDA figured out what they were doing. But recalling meat that has been confirmed multiple times as being safe for consumption is just reckless. Several companies are already out of business and hundreds, if not thousands of people are now unemployed due to the USDA's reckless recall. The result is the "good guy" in the industry are receiving the same treatment as the "bad guys".

Larry @food safty (not verified)

at 18:45 on January 19th, 2010

E-Coli in the ground beef did not originate at Huntington beef. It was in the cattle prior to slaughter. Unfortunantly USDA, FSIS does not reguard E-Coli 0157H7 as an adulterant in beef unless it is processed in non-intact (such as ground)product. They have no interest in stopping the problem at the source such as the feed lots. Processors such as Huntington recieves the product contaminated, although tested for E-Coli negative. When meat is contaminated with E-Coli the bacteria does not spread throught the meat block, it just multiplies within it's contaminated spot. If that spot is tested a positive is found, if the spot one inch from there is tested it will pass inspection as negative and be shipped as tested "to an undectable level" as required by USDA.Unfortunantly for small processors such as this, this recall will put all of their workers on unemployment with the others.

Barry ORegan

at 07:45 on January 20th, 2010

How about feeding cattle grass instead of corn, that would eliminate e-coli in the meat. But cattle barons like corn cause it fattens cows faster in order to get em to your dinner table. I get my meat (though not beef) the old fashion way, I hunt it and kill it naturally with two sticks, a bow and arrow! The way God intended it as a hunter gatherer!

Barbara McPherson

at 10:59 on January 20th, 2010

This story underlines the danger in large, centrally located slaughter facilities. Ground beef from these plants can contain the meat from many different cattle. If a slaughter facility is not scrupulous in keeping the kill floor clean, animal feces will splash onto the carcass. All warm blooded animals carry E. coli in their lower gut. E. coli make up about a third of the bulk of our 'poop'. E. coli in a healthy individual -- human or cow -- contribute to the normal health of that individual. In humans, E. coli make Vitamin K for us which is essential in helping blood to clot. The problem arises when mutant forms such as E. coli 0157:H7 get into the bloody mess known as commercial ground beef, they can double their numbers every 20 minutes or so. If they are not killed by heat, they can then kill you.

ScrewthePress (not verified)

at 14:33 on January 20th, 2010

I love how the media uses the words, and I quote "potentially tainted beef products" accusing Huntington Meats that had first hand knowledge into the fact that they were selling E.Coli contaminated beef. Think about this press, if you want 100% pathogen free ground beef, you would have nothing to eat concluding the test. That is the only way to make sure that the beef we eat is 100% safe!