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Why Recall Two-Year-Old Ground Beef?Surely we ate it already!

By Chris WilsonUpdated Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008, at 6:44 PM ET

Entrance gate at the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing companyHallmark Meat Packing recalled its entire beef supply from the past two years due to the improper slaughtering of sick cattle, the Department of Agriculture announced last weekend. The USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service was quick to assure consumers that most of the recalled meat poses no health hazard and probably has already been consumed. Why would you recall meat that was sold two years ago?

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In case someone hasn't eaten it yet. Recalls of this kind extend as far back as there is evidence of safety violations. In many cases, this can be limited to meat packaged on a specific day or over the course of a given week, but the evidence of noncompliance at Hallmark was a more consistent problem, dating back at least two years. It's possible there were even earlier violations—which might merit an even more extensive recall—but the government requires meat packers to maintain records of frozen beef shipments for only two years.

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Mark Schatzker investigated the ingredients of a good steak, from breed of cow to its diet. Laurie Snyder detailed how the scare over Mad Cow Disease was cleaning up some of the more gruesome slaughterhouse practices. Sara Dickerman saluted beef jerky as one of the great staples of American cuisine. David Plotz profiled Mad Cow Disease as the killer virus of the new world order, and Charles Duhigg pondered the existence of an "Atkins economy" as dieting Americans turned to red meat to lose weight.

How much of that meat is still around? Not much, in all likelihood. The USDA recommends that uncooked frozen meat be served within four to 12 months of packaging, but there are no rules on how long a package of ground beef can stay on a freezer shelf. Still, it's unlikely that anyone would be eating two-year-old beef. Ice crystals form on meat that's been left in the freezer too long, breaking down the cell structure of the muscular tissue and making it soggy. This decrement in quality is so obvious that very few restaurants would bother serving it. Since none of the frozen meat produced by Hallmark was sold directly to grocery stores, consumers don't have to worry about any contaminated packages tucked away in their home refrigerators. Most of the beef in question was sold directly to the food-service industry and to school lunch programs, which don't normally keep supplies sitting around for years on end.

Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.

Explainer thanks Jack Curry of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Michele Peterson Murray of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, and David Ray and Lynn Morrissette of the American Meat Institute.

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Chris Wilson is an assistant editor at Slate in Washington, D.C. Follow him on Twitter.

COMMENTS

Remarks from the Fray:

It has nothing to do with tainted meat. It has everything to do with USDA showing they have the power. Small individuals with great big gold badges.

This practice was an accepted practice from 1908 when USDA meat inspection began until around 2000 when USDA began to enforce humane handling practices, which prohibited slaughter of "downer" animals. A downer is defined as any animal that cannot stand and walk normally.

During my career I supervised the slaughter of literally thousands of "downer" animals . All were subjected to intense inspection before being deemed edible. This included laboratory sampling of the meat before being released for commerce.

I think USDA meat inspection leaders have forgotten just why they were created...I'm really glad I'm retired!!!!!

--docusda

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