What Happens to Recalled Meat?

December 2007

Data from the United States Department of Agriculture shows a disturbing trend in meat recalls – only 44 percent of tainted meat is actually recovered in a typical recall event. This leaves the majority of meat contaminated with food poisoning and other dangers to be sold by unknowing store owners and eaten by uninformed consumers.

In this year’s largest meat recall, the Topps Meat Company pulled 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef from stores due to E. coli poisoning. One month after the major recall announcement, 141 boxes of tainted Topps burgers were found across 12 states.

To make matters worse, meat recalls have shot up 37 percent from 34 in 2006 to 54 in 2007. In November, Cargill of Wyalusing, PA recalled over one million pounds of beef for E. coli. In the same month, frozen Totino’s and Jeno’s pizzas were recalled for their E. coli-tainted pepperoni. In July, countless cans of meat products including chili and hash were recalled due to botulism contamination.