- The USDA is issuing an alert regarding beef stock that wasn’t properly inspected when it was imported into the United States.
- Food safety inspectors didn’t get a chance to inspect a shipment of Wegmans Beef Stock before it was shipped to stores, and now the USDA is asking that consumers throw it away.
- The product was sold in multiple US states.
We’ve already seen more than our fair share of food and other product recalls in 2020, but a new alert by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is a bit different. It’s not a full-on recall, but the group is still asking that anyone with the product throw it away or return it to where they purchased it for a full refund.
The product, 32 oz. cartons of Wegmans Beef Culinary Stock (No salt added), may not actually be harmful at all, but food safety investigators don’t know one way or the other because the product was never presented to inspectors when it was imported into the country. Yeah, this is kind of a weird situation.
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According to the official food safety alert bulletin, the reason the situation didn’t result in a full-on recall is that it’s likely that the product has already been sold and left store shelves, meaning that consumers probably can’t still purchase it. However, because beef stock stays viable for so long, it’s likely that the product is still waiting to be used in consumers’ homes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for beef stock products that were not presented for import re-inspection into the United States. A recall was not requested because it is believed that the affected product is no longer available for consumers to purchase.
The issue was discovered “when the purchaser determined that it was delivered without FSIS import re-inspection,” according to the bulletin. The good news is that no reports of adverse reactions to the beef stock, such as illness, have been reported. However, the FSIS strongly urges anyone who consumed the product and feels ill to contact their health care provider promptly.
The FSIS also says that if you have any of this product in your home, it should “be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.” The fact that the product wasn’t presented for inspection doesn’t necessarily mean there is anything wrong with it, but the fact that it wasn’t inspected means that the USDA can’t give it a stamp of approval, and that’s why this pseudo-recall is happening.
The product was sold at retail stores in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, according to the alert. It has a UPC of 7789045652 and date codes of March 25th, 2022, and March 26th, 2022. You can view more information about the recall and the product itself on the USDA’s website.
