On Dec. 28, 2003, the USDA has expanded to eight U.S. states and the territory of Guam the recall of beef related to the recent discovery of one case of mad cow disease in Washington State on Dec. 23. The recall now extends to stores in Washington State, Oregon, California, Nevada, Alaska, Montana, Hawaii, Idaho and Guam. The following is the complete transcript of the USDA announcement:
DR. KEN PETERSEN, Food Safety and Inspection Service: Yesterday we discussed that the beef products related to the December 23 BSE-related recall were distributed from the Verns Moses Lake facility to Midway Meats on December 11, 2003.
All of the CNS-related tissue, meaning the brains, spinal cord and distal ileum, were removed at the Verns facility during the slaughter that occurred on December 9. Those are the tissues that are known to contain the BSE agent.
Because the meat leaving Verns did not contain these high-risk material, the recalled beef represents an essentially zero risk to consumers.
On December 12, after removing or what we call "deboning" the meat from the carcasses, Midway Meats which is located in Centralia, Washington, distributed the product to two federally inspected plants in Oregon -- the Willamette Valley Meats in Portland, and Interstate Meat Distributors in Clackamas, Oregon.
These last two facilities are considered secondary consignees of the recalled beef.
Last Friday December 26 and into yesterday December 27 we began following up on the distribution of the tertiary consignees -- that is, those customers of Willamette and Interstate. I reported that products have been distributed primarily in Oregon and Washington, but also in the states of Nevada and California.
These remain the locations with most of the recalled product.
We now know that the tertiary consignees have had some limited further distribution into four other states -- Alaska, Montana, Hawaii and Idaho -- as well as the US territory of Guam. Therefore, eight states and one territory are currently involved with the recall.
Several of these locations reflect further distribution from locations that originated elsewhere in Oregon or Washington.
Again, the recall was initiated out of an abundance of caution following the report of one cow testing presumptive positive for BSE. Even though we remain confident in the safety of these beef products we are and we will continue to verify distribution and control of all products related to the recall.
USDA Technical Briefing, Dec. 28, 2003
Mad Cow Disease - What's Safe to Feed Your Kids?
DR. KEN PETERSEN, Food Safety and Inspection Service: Yesterday we discussed that the beef products related to the December 23 BSE-related recall were distributed from the Verns Moses Lake facility to Midway Meats on December 11, 2003.
All of the CNS-related tissue, meaning the brains, spinal cord and distal ileum, were removed at the Verns facility during the slaughter that occurred on December 9. Those are the tissues that are known to contain the BSE agent.
Because the meat leaving Verns did not contain these high-risk material, the recalled beef represents an essentially zero risk to consumers.
On December 12, after removing or what we call "deboning" the meat from the carcasses, Midway Meats which is located in Centralia, Washington, distributed the product to two federally inspected plants in Oregon -- the Willamette Valley Meats in Portland, and Interstate Meat Distributors in Clackamas, Oregon.
These last two facilities are considered secondary consignees of the recalled beef.
Last Friday December 26 and into yesterday December 27 we began following up on the distribution of the tertiary consignees -- that is, those customers of Willamette and Interstate. I reported that products have been distributed primarily in Oregon and Washington, but also in the states of Nevada and California.
These remain the locations with most of the recalled product.
We now know that the tertiary consignees have had some limited further distribution into four other states -- Alaska, Montana, Hawaii and Idaho -- as well as the US territory of Guam. Therefore, eight states and one territory are currently involved with the recall.
Several of these locations reflect further distribution from locations that originated elsewhere in Oregon or Washington.
Again, the recall was initiated out of an abundance of caution following the report of one cow testing presumptive positive for BSE. Even though we remain confident in the safety of these beef products we are and we will continue to verify distribution and control of all products related to the recall.
USDA Technical Briefing, Dec. 28, 2003