USDA News Relase
California Firm Recalls Unwholesome Meat Products Produced Without the Benefit of Full Inspection
Class I Recall 013-2014 (UPDATE)
Health Risk: High Feb 18, 2014
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 2014 – Rancho Feeding Corporation, a Petaluma, Calif. establishment, is recalling approximately 8,742,700 pounds, because it processed diseased and unsound animals and carried out these activities without the benefit or full benefit of federal inspection. Thus, the products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
The following Rancho Feeding Corporation products are subject to recall:
- 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. Each box bears the case code number ending in “3” or “4.” The products were produced Jan. 1, 2013 through Jan. 7, 2014 and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments nationwide.
FSIS has received no reports of illness due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify that recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that recalled product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at: at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.
Consumers and members of the media who have questions about the recall can contact the plant’s Quality Control manager, Scott Parks, at (707) 762-6651.
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. The online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/reportproblem.
Update: Second investigation launched into Rancho Feeding Corp.
By ROBERT DIGITALE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
http://www.petaluma360.com/article/20140211/COMMUNITY/140219907/-1/community?p=1&tc=pg
Published: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 4:50 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 at 4:50 p.m.
A second office within the US Department of Agriculture has begun investigating a Petaluma slaughterhouse that has temporarily ceased operations while recalling a year's worth of processed beef, the agency reported Tuesday.
“USDA's Office of the Inspector General is conducting an ongoing investigation into Rancho Feeding Corporation,” said a statement released Tuesday by the agency's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The statement noted that the administrator over the inspection service had separately “directed an immediate and thorough examination of the firm's practices, procedures and management.”
The 39-word statement was the most detailed to date on the agency's investigation of the North Bay's last remaining beef processing facility.
On Saturday the USDA announced that Rancho had initiated a recall of 8.7 million pounds of beef, essentially all the meat the company had processed in 2013.
In its news release, the agency asserted that Rancho “processed diseased and unsound animals” without a full inspection. The meat products are “unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food” and must be removed from commerce.
There are no reports of anyone becoming ill after eating the beef.
Robert Singleton, who owns Rancho with partner Jesse “Babe” Amaral, on Monday confirmed the company had voluntarily ceased processing and was compiling a list of affected companies. Singleton said the company undertook the recall out of “an abundance of caution” but declined comment on the government's allegations.
Other than the news release Saturday and the statement on Tuesday, officials with the US Department of Agriculture have declined to elaborate on the underlying reasons for the recall or the breadth of their investigation.
The recall affects all beef processed at Rancho between Jan. 1, 2013, and Jan. 7, 2014, a USDA spokesman said. The carcasses and other parts, commonly referred to as offal, were shipped to retailers and distributors in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
Last month the USDA announced that Rancho was recalling 41,683 pounds of meat produced on Jan. 8. The agency asserted that the meat didn't receive a full federal inspection.
You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com.
FOOD BUSINESS NEWS
California meat processor recalling a year’s production
2/10/2014 - by Keith Nunes http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/Food_Safety_News/2014/02/California_meat_processor_reca.aspx?ID={39E6BB5C-DD5F-4312-8CB2-0F1768DF1FA3}
PETALUMA, CALIF. — Rancho Feeding Corp., a small California meat processor, is recalling all beef products processed between Jan. 1, 2013, to Jan. 7, 2014. The total amount is estimated to be in the range of 8.7 million lbs of product.
The recalled products were distributed to California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said the recall was initiated because an investigation discovered the beef was processed without “the full benefit” federal inspection. Meat and poultry products that are shipped across state lines in the U.S. must be produced under federal inspection.
On Jan. 13, Rancho Feeding Corp. initiated a recall of 41,000 lbs of meat products that were produced without federal inspection on Jan. 8. A subsequent investigation by the F.S.I.S. revealed the issue to be much larger.
No illnesses have been associated with the recalled products, according to the F.S.I.S.
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