Beef recall: Close to 9 million pounds of beef as ‘unfit for human food’ by USDA

I looked it up and it appears biproducts make up between 30-35% of the animal. They are used in ice creams and jellied foods, cheeses, soups, bouillons, sausage, and pet food. They are also used for medicine - vaccines and pharmaceudicals.

Something like this would be difficult to get under control if sent out to be integrated with these products. So a bad rancher - ultimately, can take down a bunch of other companies. It would seem incentives to have integrity on the stuff you send out would be high. Yet clearly it isn't.

www.ers.usda.gov...

reply to post by xuenchen


It would seem as though several posters in this thread are under the false impression that they are safe from this recall based on the fact that the list of recalled items is primarily made up of odd cow parts that most people don't eat.

Everyone needs to check out item number 1 on that list!

It's beef carcasses, as in whole sides of beef ready to be butchered into steaks, chops, roasts and all those other parts that most of us do indeed eat.

"Beef Carcasses” (wholesale and custom sales only)

I think it's "safe" to say that everyone who lives in one of the affected states should be checking out their beef to make sure it's good to eat. Don't assume anything.

Good find Xuenchen, S&F!

And this is why you should only eat

Fresh fruits and veggies

With a small portion of grass fed beef

My 2 pennys

I appreciate this thread as well. Otherwise wouldn't have known about this so thanks OP. I checked my beef and it is not labeled with any USDA stamp. All it has is a UPC code. And then there are people who buy it from the butcher shop at their grocers (albertsons, Safeway, etc). They wrap it in brown paper.

Basically - it's already been consumed by some I'm sure, and to ID it would mean literally following the paperwork. Recalls cost a ton of money so I'm sure that's why it doesn't get too much of a spotlight, and why they probably won't do much more with this. I am completely turned off now to all meats that come from god knows where. In looking for info on this I can see this is a regular event with both chicken and beef. Goes to show that the USDA stamp really guarantees nothing. It's concerning since they rely on these big establishments for our kids' school lunches, restaurants, and other places where bulk is necessary.

reply to post by xuenchen


I suspect prion contamination, mainly because the standard contaminants are usually named (eg., e. coli, salmonella) - but in this case, the contaminant is NOT named. Found this earlier today - wasn't sure what to do with it.


F&S

reply to post by Another_Nut

And this is why you should only eat

Fresh fruits and veggies

With a small portion of grass fed beef

Not at all true. These days, fruits and veggies are commonly contaminated with bacteria like salmonella and e. coli - which used to affect only animal products - these microbes live in soil and water, and get taken up into plants. Not to mention prions: Prions Found in Plants.

reply to post by soficrow


lol by that definition we should just not eat right?

how about you just wash your food first

that will help never heard of salmanila and ecoli inside my fruit

but hey if you like to starve thats on you

reply to post by Dianec


I was told by a guy who used to wholesale beef that if it doesn't have a "grade" or an inspection, it's probably beef from an old milk cow that stopped producing milk. The meat isn't high enough quality to be given any kind of grade.

Not sure if that also applies to the FDA stamp -- as I still thought all meat had to carry an FDA stamp.

Stop eating meat!! You'll look better if you do! Any ways, you never know what the USDA is going to do with our food... This could turn ugly. So I'm on the safe side eating vegetables.

Although I know there have been problems with vegetation, but its best to be on the safer side than eating a corpse!

reply to post by MystikMushroom


Good to know. One of my packages came from a health food store so that means it is probably local so no USDS stamp (the one my kid and I ate from last night). Check it out next time you to to the grocery store though - packages that just have tags but no USDS stamp - because the other package I have from Albertsons only has the price sticker with UPC code and all of that. In both of my cases I'm talking about ground beef. Maybe they don't stamp all of that. Costco has all of theirs stamped but not my regular grocery store. I'll ask the meat dept guy next time what that means.

xuenchen
30-lb. boxes of "Mountain Oysters"

Look carefully at Labels !!

Look carefully indeed. Those are cow testicles.

dfens

xuenchen
30-lb. boxes of "Mountain Oysters"

Look carefully at Labels !!

Look carefully indeed. Those are cow testicles.

I thought cows were female?

What am I missing?

reply to post by xuenchen


Cows as a whole. Bovine instead? I'm pretty sure steers go out to slaughter as well. Maybe I'm missing something. I don't really know. I just know I'm not in the market for 30# boxes of lips, nails, feet, strands, tails, or oysters.

Gentlemen and ladies, there is no beef fit for human food. Save the rainforests, eat a bean (or a rice, ymmmmm, a bean and a rice!)

Anyway, this is the kind of news that's a two hour wonder and then everyone in the world goes back to eating cow. I'd plead for a cow's life, but I've already got my Rice Dream, so let them go gently to slaughter and find me a spoon.

reply to post by xuenchen


That's interesting. Also interesting that it is a Californian ranching company as many ranchers are in the process of offloading their beef due to the drought. Looks like somebody opted to offload that beef to the market instead of destruction.

RevelationsDivad
Stop eating meat!! You'll look better if you do! Any ways, you never know what the USDA is going to do with our food... This could turn ugly. So I'm on the safe side eating vegetables.

Although I know there have been problems with vegetation, but its best to be on the safer side than eating a corpse!

Why do you think you are safe? Any idea how your ancestors survived if they only ate veggies? Meat is also known as "energy storage". YOu feed your stock animals all season long to fatten them up, then eat them all winter long, storing the meat in cold areas during the winter. Humans "evolved" doing this. Meat all winter, veggies/fruits all summer.

On topic: I suspect Soficrow is right. The disease is as yet unspecified....for a reason. And it likely goes far beyond this batch of meat. Expect to hear more about it, and if you like to speculate on staples....be ready for a huge price jump in beef/veal.

Regardless, it was whole cows, minus the eyes, that are being recalled. Steaks, brisket, roasts....along with the offal and other parts. The only thing likely to not be recalled is the skin. Prions happen to make for some attractive boots. LOL

Oh well...i am more than happy eating pork and yardbird.

Another_Nut
reply to post by soficrow

 

lol by that definition we should just not eat right?

No, by that definition we should demand clean-ups and constraints on profiteering so we're not constantly poisoned and re-poisoned. For your edification:

Recovery of Salmonella enterica Newport Introduced through Irrigation Water from Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) Fruit, Roots, Stems, and Leaves

Using both microscopy and microbial enumeration tools, enteric pathogens have been shown to enter plant tissues through both natural apertures (stomata, lateral junctions of roots, flowers) and damaged (wounds, cut surfaces) tissue. ...

Human Enteric Pathogen Internalization by Root Uptake into Food Crops

Outbreaks of foodborne illnesses have been increasingly linked to the consumption of fruits and vegetables. ...

...several conclusions can be reached: (1) uptake through inter- nalization is a plant–pathogen specific interaction; (2) the plant growth substrate used plays a large role in the uptake of both bacterial and viral pathogens in plants; (3) intact, healthy, non- injured roots seem to discourage the uptake of bacteria cells and viruses into plants; and (4) generally, the presence of in- ternalized pathogens in roots of plants does not directly cor- relate with internalized pathogens in the edible or foliar tissues of crops.

reply to post by soficrow


i wont deny the science (yet)

but you will still starve while waiting for all that

fresh fruits and veggies are still the best way (along with some grass fed beef ) to stay healthy

most of those bad things get caught in uptake and little of the fruit is contaminated ( 6 % according to your link)

so a small risk but yes risky

seems a lot of this is due to growth medium (uptake in soil is much less than in hydroponic)

from second link


Tomato

SalmonellaMontevideo

Pine bark

Irrigation water (350 mL of
107 CFU/mL) every 14
days and seed stock (107
CFU/mL)

Analyzed on day 70
No
Salmonella
was detected in stem scar, fruit
pulp, leaves, or stems; a few root samples
were positive.

emphasis mine

reply to post by pheonix358


I always laugh at things like that. Seriously, like the horse meat "scare". Some European and Asian countries enjoy various meat, including horse. But the meat isn't the only thing on the menu. Lungs, tongues, livers, tails, penis etc. are all rather tasty.

As long as the meat isn't tainted, I'll gladly chow down!