The United States Department of Agriculture announced a recall for over four thousand pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with mad cow disease.
A part of the nervous system that can be detrimental to consumers in cattle over a certain age is required to be completely removed from the beef. It is suspected that this regulation was not met precisely.
Fruitland American Meat, a company based in Missouri, informed consumers that the bone-in ribeye roasts were sold to a New York City restaurant, as well as a Whole Foods distribution center in Connecticut which provides for several of the New England stores.
There have been no reported incidents of any negative reactions to ingestion of these beef products. The USDA classified the incident as a low health risk.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service discovered the issue while reviewing the company’s slaughter logs. The USDA stated that the possible contamination might have been caused by the employees’ failure to properly determine the age of cattle.