The last things you want to hear when it comes to food are words like “diseased” or “unhealthy.” However, those are the exact words used to describe the products involved in a massive recent recall.
Rancho Feeding Corp., a California-based slaughterhouse, had to recall 8.7 million pounds of meat that it processed last year. The recall covers all Rancho products produced for over a year –between Jan. 1, 2013 and Jan. 7, 2014.
The reason for such major action?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called out Rancho for processing animals that could have been diseased or unhealthy without having them undergo a full inspection by federal regulators first.
An even bigger kick in the teeth than the “diseased” and “unhealthy” labels? USDA officials also said that without the inspection to prove otherwise, the meat was considered to be “unfit for human consumption.”
In addition to the giant recall, Rancho has voluntarily suspended operations at its facility until all of the potentially tainted meat could be tracked down.
One of Rancho’s co-owners described its actions as taking “an abundance of caution” to keep consumers safe.
This isn’t new ground for the folks at Rancho.
Just last month the company had to recall 40,000 lbs. of meat for the exact same reason – federal regulators weren’t given the opportunity to inspect it. That recall only involved products which were produced on Jan. 8, 2014, which meant they were outside of the scope of the larger recall.
The USDA released a partial list of the retailers impacted by the recall. It includes 13 companies, all of which are located in the general area of Rancho, namely in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.
Pros and cons
Despite the harsh words from regulators, the recent history and Rancho’s response, there are some out there who don’t think there should have been a recall in the first place.
For one thing, most of the beef involved in the recall has long since been consumed and there haven’t been any reports of illness associated with it.
The general thinking being that if it’s been getting consumed for over a year without any ill-effects, it seems pretty safe to assume that the meat is completely safe.
Some of the companies that do business with Rancho claim the impact to them in terms of the lost revenue and bad PR that go along with a recall far outweigh any potential risks associated with the meat. They maintain that all of the meat Rancho processed was raised in full compliance with federal standards and regulations.
There are some concerns that the costs associated with this latest issue could put Rancho out of business for good.
Many cattle and pig ranchers in the area rely on Rancho to process their animals as it is essentially the only game in town.
Losing Rancho as their processor could also put those ranchers in a perilous situation financially.
Where it all began
Rancho’s problems first began on Jan. 10. That’s when federal inspectors arrived to take a look at its plant as part of an investigation they had begun mounting.
A scant three days later, word broke about the first recall, the one involving a little over 40,000 lbs of meat.
As a result, Rancho’s facility shut its doors for a few days. It was about to ramp up production again when the USDA elected to expand the recall to cover all of its meat products that were produced over the course of the last year.
Is there a risk?
So there have been no health problems reported despite these products being on shelves for over a year, and many involved don’t even see their being any risk at all.
Many of the products that are supposed to be coming back were consumed over a year ago.
Did either of these recalls even need to happen?
Is this a case of overkill by federal regulators who are looking to make an example out of Rancho? A kind of “follow the rules or else” situation?
Or should Rancho have known better and made it a point to toe the line with regulators and do whatever it took to stay compliant with every regulation?
Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below.
