
(DailyEmailNews.com) – In a shocking revelation, nearly 12 million pounds of potentially contaminated meat and poultry products have made their way into U.S. schools and major retailers.
This massive recall involves industrial and retail supplier BrucePac and raises serious questions about food safety.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) recently announced that BrucePac has expanded its recall to include a staggering 11,779,040 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry items.
These products were processed at a plant in Durant, Oklahoma, and were distributed to schools, restaurants and major retailers like Costco, Trader Joe’s, Target, Walmart and Kroger.
This recall expansion comes on the heels of an initial recall of over 9 million pounds, raising serious concerns about the effectiveness of our food safety systems.
The contamination was discovered through routine FSIS testing, which identified Listeria monocytogenes in finished poultry products.
The affected products were produced between May 31 and October 8, with establishment numbers “51205 or P-51205” inside or under the USDA mark of inspection.
However, the FSIS warns that some products may have different establishment numbers due to further distribution and processing.
This complex process makes it even more challenging for consumers to identify potentially contaminated items.
Although no confirmed illnesses have been reported so far, the potential consequences of listeria contamination are severe.
Listeriosis, which is caused by Listeria monocytogenes, can be life-threatening especially for pregnant women, newborns, older adults and those with weakened immune systems.
Symptoms can appear anywhere from one day to 70 days after consuming contaminated food, making it difficult to trace the source of infection.
This incident is not isolated. A similar listeria outbreak linked to Boar’s Head deli meat has caused at least 10 deaths since May.
“We are working closely with USDA to ensure that all necessary actions are taken to ensure a safe food supply,” BrucePac said in a statement. “We will not resume production until we are confident the issue has been resolved.”
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