Posted on 12/25/2003 3:25:42 AM PST by torstars
Fears that a bit of tainted tissue might slip into ground meat or contaminate inviting-looking cuts of prime beef have made some consumers jittery and threatened U.S. beef exports.
Major supermarkets in Oregon stopped selling ground beef from certain suppliers and asked consumers to voluntarily return ground beef products.
From shoppers checking labels to cattle ranchers trying to quell fears about mad cow disease, Oregonians reacted Wednesday to the first known case of the disease in the United States:
Oregon agriculture officials waited for further instructions from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and prepared to spend Christmas dealing with the problem. As of Wednesday afternoon, agriculture officials had received no information indicating that live animals from the Washington dairy that has been identified as the source had been shipped to Oregon.
Vern’s Moses Lake Meats in Moses Lake, Wash., began a voluntary recall of 10,410 pounds of raw beef that may have been exposed to tissues containing the infectious agent.
Willamette Valley Meats in Portland and Interstate Meats in Clackamas County also may have received meat from the Washington farm, agriculture officials said. Both companies declined to comment.
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski issued a statement after the cattle industry requested his support. “Every action will be taken to provide maximum protection for public health and the security of Oregonians,” he said.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture might be called on to assist in locating animals from the Washington dairy and in overseeing any beef recalls in the state.
“We’re at a high level of readiness,” said Rodger Huffman of the agriculture department’s animal health and identification division.
Safeway Inc. has stopped selling all fresh ground beef products from an Oregon supplier that received meat from the affected cow, said spokeswoman Bridget Flanagan.
“We’re doing this voluntarily out of an abundance of caution,” Flanagan said.
Safeway, which has 120 grocery stores in Oregon and southwest Washington, will re-evaluate its meat-buying practices and look for another supplier, she said.
On Wednesday, Albertson’s announced a voluntary recall of ground beef products supplied by Interstate Meats.
Albertson’s officials asked consumers to voluntarily return 1-pound and 2-pound packages of 85 percent lean ground beef and 2-pound packages of 85 percent lean ground beef patties. The products have a sell date of Dec. 25.
In addition, Albertson’s shoppers should return 91 percent lean ground beef purchased from the Butcher Block service case between Dec. 16 and 23.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.statesmanjournal.com ...
Fears that a bit of tainted tissue might slip into ground meat or contaminate inviting-looking cuts of prime beef have made some consumers jittery.....Baloney!
Actually, ground beef and baloney are in the same category.
I used the title of the article. Not sure why the title disappeared.
Dairy cows are slaughtered for hamburger. FRESH hamburger and sausage are Interstate Meats' specialty.
I don't think that there is any doubt that the meat from the BSE positive Holstein has entered the human food chain and because it has a shelf life of 12 days, most has already been eaten.
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