A major nationwide meat recall has been announced after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) discovered that a large quantity of raw meat products had been produced without federal inspection and carried a false USDA inspection mark.
The recall involves approximately 167,639 pounds of raw pork, beef and goat products produced by Star Meat Delivery Inc. of Lucama, North Carolina. FSIS said the problem was discovered during its surveillance activities.
The products were shipped to A&D Foods, a Georgia distributor, for further distribution to retail stores and restaurants around the country.
Because some of the products may already be in refrigerators, freezers, restaurants and retail locations, consumers are being urged to check their meat carefully.
🚨 Why Was the Meat Recalled?
According to FSIS, the recalled products were produced without the benefit of federal inspection.
They also carried a false establishment number:
EST. 1363
FSIS said that number does not correspond to a federally inspected establishment.
The agency considers the products misbranded and unsafe to eat. The recall was classified as Class I, which is the USDA’s most serious recall classification.
This doesn’t mean that every package has been shown to contain a harmful substance. Rather, the lack of required federal inspection means the products cannot be treated as meeting the applicable federal inspection requirements.
🥩 What Products Are Included?
The recall covers a large variety of raw meat products.
Among the products identified in reports based on the USDA announcement are:
- 🐖 Pork chorizo
- 🐖 Pork chops
- 🐖 Pork feet
- 🐖 Pork ribs
- 🐖 Pork Boston butt
- 🐖 Pork hock
- 🥩 Beef ribs
- 🥩 Beef short ribs
- 🥩 Ribeye
- 🥩 Beef chuck
- 🥩 Beef feet
- 🐐 Goat cuts
- 🐐 Goat burn-skin-on cuts
- 🍲 Menudo mix
- Other raw beef, pork and goat products
Many were vacuum-packed and placed inside cardboard boxes under the A&D Foods label.
Because there are numerous products and package sizes involved, consumers shouldn’t rely solely on remembering one product name.
The establishment number is particularly important.
🔎 Check Your Refrigerator and Freezer
FSIS specifically expressed concern that some of the recalled products could still be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers, as well as in restaurants and retail locations.
Look for products associated with:
EST. 1363
However, there’s an important complication.
Some individual consumer packages may not carry the original labeling because retailers may have applied their own stickers containing pricing and safe-handling information.
That means checking only the package sitting in your freezer may not always be straightforward.
If you’re unsure whether meat is part of the recall, it’s safer to compare it against the official recall information rather than guessing based on appearance.
