California Plant Shuts Down After Recalling 8.7 Million Pounds Of Beef “Unfit For Human Food”

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In what sounds like the perfect storm of awfulness and complete inedibility, a Northern California plant has announced it’s voluntarily closing after issuing a recall for 8.7 million pounds of beef. Why? Because federal officials say the plant “processed diseased and unsound animals” without a full federal inspection, resulting in products that are “unfit for human food.” Yum.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says due to that lack of inspection, “the products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce.”

Rancho Feeding Corp. recalled those products, which were sold to retailers and distributors, though there have been no illnesses reported yet due to the beef in question, the company and the USDA said.

The plant’s quality control manager said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the plant enacted the recall “out of an abundance of caution” and that the company regrets the inconvenience to its customers.

Included in the recall are products produced Jan. 1, 2013 through Jan. 7, 2014 and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas:

“Beef Carcasses” (wholesale and custom sales only)

2 per box “Beef (Market) Heads” (retail only)

4-gallons per box “Beef Blood” (wholesale only)

20-lb. boxes of “Beef Oxtail”

30-lb. boxes of “Beef Cheeks”

30-lb. boxes of ” Beef Lips”

30-lb. boxes of “Beef Omasum”

30-lb. boxes of “Beef Tripas”

30-lb. boxes of “Mountain Oysters”

30-lb. boxes of “Sweet Breads”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Liver”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tripe”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Beef Tongue”

30- and 60-lb. boxes of “Veal Cuts”

40-lb. boxes of “Veal Bones”

50-lb. boxes of “Beef Feet”

50-lb. boxes of “Beef Hearts”

60-lb. boxes of “Veal Trim”

Beef carcasses and boxes bear the establishment number “EST. 527″ inside the USDA mark of inspection, and each box bears the case code number ending in a 3 or a 4.

California Firm Recalls Unwholesome Meat Products Produced Without the Benefit of Full Inspection [FSIS]

After recalling 8.7 million pounds of beef, California firm shuts down [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist