Recall Issued for 8.7M Pounds of “Unwholesome” Meat Products

About 8.7 million pounds of meat products were recalled this weekend due to the potential risk for consumers, after federal health officials found that the manufacturer processed “diseased” and “unsound” animals without the benefit of a federal inspection.

The Rancho Feeding Corporation meat recall was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on February 8, after the meat was declared unfit for human consumption.

The meat was described by federal food safety officials as “unsound, unwholesome or otherwise unfit for human food,” although no injuries or illnesses have been reported in relation with the products.

This is a massive expansion of an earlier recall implemented on January 13, when FSIS recalled nearly 42,000 pounds of meat produced by the California-based company because they did not obtain full federal inspection and were deemed “unfit” for consumption. The expansion adds approximately 8.7 million more pounds of meat products that FSIS has classified as a major risk to consumers and stated in their recall “must be removed from commerce”.

The Rancho Feeding Corporation meat recall includes various meat products such as carcasses, heads, cheeks, lips, tongues, bones, feet, liver, and others produced between January 1, 2013 and January 7, 2014. The products were sold in variety of sizes including 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 pound boxes with establishment number “EST.527” on the USDA mark of inspection and case codes ending with “3” or “4”.

The products were processed by Rancho Feeding Corporation of Petaluma, California where they were distributed to retail centers in California, Florida, and Texas.

The FSIS recommends that consumers should stop eating, processing, or handling these products immediately and contact Rancho Feeding Corporations Quality Control manager Scott Parks, at 707-762-6651 for questions.