Rancho Feeding Corp. of Petaluma, CA, the beef producer that recalled 8.7 million pounds of meat on Saturday, has halted operations as personnel attempt to help locate any remaining shipments made in 2013. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced it is conducting an investigation into the company’s facilities. The agency has directed an “immediate and thorough” examination of the firm’s practices, procedures and management, according to a USDA spokesperson. Food safety attorney Bill Marler called the USDA’s move unusual, saying the investigation opens the potential to discover criminal wrongdoing if it reveals that the company knew it was shipping adulterated products. (Marler’s Seattle-based law firm, Marler Clark, underwrites Food Safety News.) The company has recalled all beef products made between Jan. 1, 2013, and Jan. 7, 2014, due to processing “diseased and unsound” animals and doing so without full federal inspection. Because of that, the products are considered adulterated and fall under the rules of a Class 1 recall, suggesting a “reasonable probability” that the products pose a health hazard. That said, neither USDA nor Rancho Feeding Corp. have received any reports of illness connected to the products. However, due to the difficulty associated with tracing illnesses to specific food products, it is impossible to guarantee that no one has fallen ill. That USDA spokesperson also told Food Safety News that the agency is still working to produce a list of retailers in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas who sold the products, which included recalled whole carcasses, liver, tripe and oxtail. Thus far, USDA has only revealed a handful of California neighborhood grocery markets in their retailer distribution list:
- Brown’s Valley Market, 3263 Browns Valley Rd., Napa
- La Morenita, 2436 Jefferson, Napa
- Vallergas Market, 2139 1st St., Napa
- Apple Market, 155 San Marin Dr., Novato
- Los Mexicanos, 1244 High St., Oakland
- Los Primos, 4095 Foothill Blvd., Oakland
- Mi Ranchito, 3326 Foothill Blvd., Oakland
- Bud’s Meats, 7750 Petaluma Hill Rd., Penngrove
- G & G, 701 Sonoma Mtn. Pkwy., Petaluma
- Petaluma Market, 210 Western Ave., Petaluma
- La Esmeralda, 1330 Market St., San Pablo
- Azteca Market, 802 4th St., San Rafael
- Carniceria Coalcoman, 1415 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa
- Carniceria Contreras, 1401 Todd Rd., Santa Rosa
- Carolina Wild, 5380 Aero Dr., Santa Rosa
- G & G, 1211 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa
- Willowside Meats, 3421 Guernville Rd., Santa Rosa
- Sonoma Market, 500 W. Napa, Sonoma
USDA has not indicated when the retail distribution list will be updated to include retailers from additional states. However, the agency has indicated that potential consumers identified through traceback efforts are being notified of the recall. If any consumers believe they have purchased some of the recalled product, USDA is advising that they discard it or return it for a refund. The agency did not specify how consumers can determine that they purchased the recalled meat without knowing which stores carried it. And, considering the recalled meat includes products more than a year old, many consumers will have already eaten it. The following is the complete list of recalled products sent to retailers:
- “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 January 7, 2014, and shipped to distribution centers and retail establishments in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
