More Than 167,000 Pounds of Raw Meat Recalled Over Lack of Inspection

A North Carolina meat packer is recalling roughly 167,639 pounds of raw beef, goat, and pork products nationwide because the items were not federally inspected.

Star Meat Delivery Inc.’s products bear false marks of inspection, displaying establishment number EST. 1363, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a Sept. 22 announcement.

The recalled items were produced on various dates before Sept. 22 and shipped to A&D Foods, a distributor in Georgia, which then supplied the products to restaurant and retail locations across the United States.

“Any product bearing the false establishment number ‘EST. 1363’ should be considered misbranded and unsafe to eat,” the FSIS said, adding that the number of recalled items may increase as more information becomes available.

Food produced without inspection may contain undeclared allergens, harmful bacteria, or other contaminants, which can be dangerous to consumers, the agency said, adding that some of the products may be in the refrigerators or freezers of consumers, restaurants, or retailers.

The statement noted that there were no confirmed reports of illness or injury linked to these products, and the agency advised consumers concerned about an illness to contact their healthcare provider.

The items were distributed under the A&D Foods label. The recall is applicable to cardboard box packages of various weights containing goat cut, goat burn skin on cut, slice ribeye, beef chuck thin sliced, beef oxtail, beef short ribs, shanks bone in cut, pork ground, pork chorizo, pork chop, pork feet cut, pork rib pieces, pork boston diced, pork boston slice, menudo mix, pork boston thin sliced, pork hock sliced, beef ribs, beef short rib thin sliced, pork boston butt sliced, and beef feet cut. 

The recall has been classified as “High-Class I,” which is issued when there is a reasonable possibility that using the product can cause serious adverse health consequences, including death.

The agency advised customers who have bought the recalled items not to consume them. The products should be returned to the place of purchase or disposed of.

The Epoch Times reached out to Star Meat Delivery for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

According to the FSIS, a division of the Department of Agriculture, thousands of agency officers across the United States do daily inspections to verify that meat, poultry, and egg products comply with food safety regulations.

The Federal Meat Inspection Act requires the FSIS to inspect all commercially sold meat. The FSIS discovered the issue with Star Meat products during surveillance activities.

While the FSIS oversees meat, poultry, and egg products, the Food and Drug Administration regulates foods in other categories. The FDA also conducts inspections at food processing facilities, dairy and produce farms, and animal feed processors, the agency said.

The FDA conducts routine surveillance inspections to assess a farm or facility’s compliance with regulations. A targeted inspection occurs when there are specific food safety risks. Such inspections may be conducted in the case of an outbreak or due to risk factors that could result in contamination.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are working on a bill to tackle unsafe imported food products.

In July, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) introduced the Making America’s Food Safer Act, which expands FDA authority regarding destruction of such foods. The FDA will have the right to destroy items that pose a “significant public health concern,” according to the bill.

Later that month, the bill unanimously passed the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and now awaits a vote in the full Senate.

Tuberville said during a hearing that the legislation “removes outdated statutory restrictions, allowing the FDA to leverage accredited third-party certifications [and] program data from both domestic and foreign facilities to prioritize inspections to help our supply chains,” according to the statement.