Beef Recall in Eight States as Possible Contamination Found

Cooks have been warned of a ground beef recall hitting thousands of pounds of meat—amid fears that it may be "contaminated with a foreign object."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced details of the recall on Sunday, revealing that about 5,620 pounds of raw ground beef must be either returned to the place of purchase or destroyed. The meat had been shipped to eight states across the U.S.

The FSIS, which falls under the remit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, protects Americans' health by ensuring meat, poultry, and egg products are safe to eat. The agency, which has around 9,000 employees, occasionally issues recalls when it fears a food product may be harmful in some way. For example, back in January, some 50,000 pounds of sausage products were recalled when FSIS inspectors announced they be infected with a potentially deadly bacteria that could cause a serious infection called listeriosis. And in November 2022, some 93,697 pounds of raw ground beef products were recalled.

Regarding this week's recall of ground beef, the FSIS has warned consumers not to use meat produced and packed on August 19 by a company named Skyline Provisions, Inc. The items subject to the recall are:

• 20-lb. carton boxes containing four packages of "SKYLINE PROVISIONS, INC. GROUND BEEF 81/19" with "ITEM # 000248" printed on the label. The product bears the establishment number "EST. 19300" inside the USDA mark of inspection.
• 20-lb. carton boxes containing four packages of "SKYLINE PROVISIONS, INC. GROUND BEEF 75/25" with "ITEM # 000293" printed on the label. The product bears the establishment number "EST. 19300" inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Newsweek has reached out by email to Skyline Provisions, which is based in Harvey, Illinois, requesting comment.

The affected Skyline Provisions ground beef cartons were shipped to "institutions" in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

"FSIS is concerned that some product may be in institutional freezers," the agency's statement said. The type of institutions involved is not specified, but it's unlikely that households will have the meat in their kitchens; institutions may include professional kitchens in canteens, for example. Newsweek has reached out to FSIS by email seeking further information about which institutions acquired the meat.

The FSIS said the problem was first discovered when a customer contacted the agency to submit a complaint "reporting that a foreign object was found during food preparation."

Newsweek has also requested clarification regarding the type of foreign object found.

The FSIS statement added: "There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. FSIS has received no additional reports of injury or illness from consumption of these products."