Massive Food Recall for Beef Shows Millions of Lbs of “Bad Meat” Released for Consumption

In January of this year, a federal raid of Rancho Feeding Corp’s plant in Petaluma, CA, led to a huge food recall for the company’s beef.

Currently, almost 9 million pounds of beef are affected by the food recall. The US Department of Agriculture obtained records from the huge beef business, and found that the company used cows sickened by cancer as one of their supplies for beef, which would otherwise be considered “unfit for human food.”

The USDA believes that employees processed cancerous cows when federal inspectors were not on the premises. However, when an inspector went through the plant, employees went so far as to put heads from healthy cows on the bodies of the sick cows, because the cows that had cancer “were likely affected with epithelioma of the eye (eye cancer).” Employees also allegedly trimmed off obviously diseased parts of the cows, or used fake stamps of approval.

Federal inspectors received a tip about the problem from a former plant employee in December last year.

“There were opportunities for cows to have gone through the process without proper inspection or otherwise properly being handled,” the attorney for the plant’s former owner said.

U.S. Rep (D) Jared Huffman said, “One would speculate at this point that in order for there [to] have been a deception that allowed a whole bunch of improperly processed meat to get certified for sale, someone at USDA was deceived,” Huffman said. “Something must have broken down in their process too. So, in the absence of information, I am left to believe that maybe they’re a little concerned that they dropped the ball, too.”

The food recall for the tainted beef covers 8.7 million pounds of meat, and has affected 5,800 stores across 45 states as well as Washington DC, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Not only were thousands of grocery stores unintentionally selling the tainted beef, but 171 other companies purchased beef from Rancho Feeding Corp for their own products, including 7-11, Albertson’s, Nestle Hot Pockets, Walgreens, Kroger, Piggly Wiggly, and Family Dollar.

Defective Products Can Lead to Health or Food Recalls

Every year, thousands of consumers sustain serious injuries from defective products, whether broken bones from a car accident, or a serious illness from a food-borne pathogen.Many of these injuries could be avoided if the manufacturers or distributors of these products took additional steps to ensure consumer safety. Defective products that commonly cause injuries include medical devices, pharmaceutical products, food recalls, and other defective products such as toys, cars and automotive parts.

There are a number of reasons that defective products make it to our shelves:

• Defective manufacturing
• Inadequate testing
• Food-borne pathogens
• Design defects
• Marketing Misrepresentation

Consumers that have been harmed by defective products such as drugs, medical devices, improperly-sealed food, or other products, may be eligible to receive legal remedies.

The Strom Law Firm Protects Citizens Harmed by Delayed Product or Food Recalls

The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm aim to protect our clients’ health and safety, and hold manufacturers to the highest possible standard of safety. Product recalls are especially important because defective drugs, medical devices, food, and toys can seriously injure or even kill consumers. If you or a loved one have experienced severe, life-limiting side effects from a defective food, product or drug, and believe that your pain stems from a product, drug, or food recall that came too late, you may be entitled to compensation. The Strom Law Firm can help. We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss the facts of your case, so contact us today. 803.252.4800