Recall Issued After 20,000 Pounds of Beef Uninspected

(RepublicanDaily.org) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a recall for 20,000 pounds of various frozen beef imported from Uruguay over concerns that the meat products did not undergo proper inspection.

The company who imported and sold the meat, South American Meat Inc. or 5Gogi LLC, failed to present the meat for additional screening and inspection with the USDA upon the products’ arrival in the U.S., the agency said.

The scope of the recall is vast, and covers the states of California, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona, where various distributors, retailers, restaurants, and other institutions received the meat products. The products were imported on March 17, 2024, from Uruguay. The USDA said that through the normal course of its monitoring of imported products, the agency determined that the meat was not presented to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for import reinspection.

The following products affected by the recall are cardboard cases with different weights that bear case codes JP0001 to JP0009 that bear the “Frigorífico Casa Blanca S.A.” label. The case codes pertain to the various parts and cuts of meat, with each code referring to the chuck roll, short ribs, cube roll, striploin, flap meat, shoulder clod, tenderloin, oyster blade, and brisket, respectively.

All the cases contain individual vacuum-packed meat products that have “FRICASA” displayed on the label.

The USDA says that consumers who have already purchased the product should seek a refund from their point of purchase or throw the items away. The USDA also highly encourages consumers to not cook and/or consume the meat, as the agency has labeled the recall as a Class I recall, which is the highest recall level possible. A Class I recall means that there is a “reasonable probability” that the consumption of the product will lead to severe adverse health conditions, or even death.

As of press time, there have also been no reports of illnesses or hospitalizations linked to consumption of the products.