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Tag: Rancho Feeding Corp

  • Beef Recall Investigation Reveals Company Deception

    It’s a case that previously had been known for the sheer volume of the recall—millions of pounds of bad meat, retrieved from thousands of stores across the country. But CNN is now reporting that the case has a far more sinister tone.

    According to an article by CNN, federal investigators began surveillance on the slaughterhouse owned by Rancho Feeding Corp. and located in Northern California, after receiving a tip from a former employee. In January, federal marshals raided the Petaluma plant and seized the company records. Days later, the first recall went out, a recall that eventually amount to 9 million pounds of bad meat.

    The recall involved thousands of retail chains, including Kroger, Food 4 Less, and Walmart. It led to the voluntary recall by Nestle of its Philly Steak and Cheese flavored Hot Pockets after the company learned it had bought beef from Rancho Feeding Corp.

    But according to documents obtained by CNN, supplemented by interviews with federal officials, that was just the beginning of a long investigation into the practices of Rancho Feeding Corp., an investigation that now has investigators believing that Rancho Feeding Corp. was not just shipping off meat that was “unfit for human consumption,” but that they were deliberately doing so with full knowledge and covering up the evidence to boot.

    Investigators believe that Rancho Feeding Corp. was buying diseased dairy cows and processing them when government inspectors were not there. After the cows were killed, employees would hide signs of cancer by trimming off the diseased parts, using a fake stamp of approval or even replacing the heads of sick cows with heads from healthy ones.

    And if that wasn’t enough, one of the government inspectors who is responsible for protecting the public from practices such as these was having a romantic relationship with the plant foreman, according to a USDA email obtained by CNN.

    The inspector, Lynette Thompson, declined to be interviewed by CNN but an email with pictures of text messages from the assistant plant manager to the USDA show that the plant foreman admitted to seeing Thompson and that he had gone to her trailer three times, where they became intimate.

    Thompson seemed worried about their relationship being exposed. “Play dumb please 4 my kids delete every thing k [sic].”

    She had good reason to be worried. The USDA’s ethics manual states that employees should not be assigned to an establishment where they have a personal relationship with an establishment employee.

    Since the recall, Rancho Feeding Corp. has been sold. The USDA has declined comment, pending an ongoing investigation.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Beef Recall: USDA Inspector Had Relationship With Foreman

    More details have arisen concerning the beef recall that includes a year’s worth of meat. The recall began in February and since then information has been spilling out on what exactly transpired. The beef was shipped out January 1st, 2013 through January 7th, 2014 and mostly consisted of beef carcasses, oxtail, liver, cheeks, tripe, tongue and veal bones. 35 states and 8.7 million pounds of beef have been affected by the recall.

    The Rancho Feeding Corporation, based in Petaluma, California, is to blame is to blame since they “processed diseased and unsound animals and carried out these activities without the benefit or full benefit of federal inspection”, according to the USDA.

    The processing company hid evidence of cows “affected with epithelioma of the eye (eye cancer)”, by using a fake USDA stamp and trimming off diseased parts. But more than that, CNN reported that e-mails show USDA inspector Lynnette Thompson had a personal relationship with a plant foreman:

    “He said he went to her trailer three different times and they were intimate,” according to the email. “She also sent him a picture of her naked back side in a tanning salon to his cellphone.”

    The assistant manager attached texts to the email he said were from Thompson to the foreman.

    “I need a kiss later,” Thompson wrote.

    “Me to (sic),” he responded.

    In another text, Thompson seems worried about the relationship being exposed. “Play dumb please 4 my kids delete every thing k (sic).”

    Consumers should watch out for contamination in all kinds of beef products. The San Francisco Gate reported that included in the recall is Krave Jerky’s Garlic Chili Pepper Beef Jerky. The 3.25-ounce meat may be a small part of the millions of pounds of beef affected by the recall, but it’s still dangerous enough to be included.

    So be careful when buying meat, especially when details like these are just starting to make headlines.

    Image via USDA, Facebook.

  • Hot Pockets Recall: Nestlé USA Recalls Philly Steak and Cheese Hot Pockets

    The recent Hot Pockets recall has prompted the removal of various flavors of the product as part of a massive meat recall.

    On Feb. 18, Nestlé USA issued a press release with details about the voluntary product recall. The multinational food and beverage company stated that the recall was issued for an unspecified number of “Philly Steak” and its “Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese” Hot Pockets in various sizes.

    “Our teams at Nestlé have reviewed our vendor records and have determined that one Nestlé brand has been impacted by the Rancho meat recall.”

    The executive order comes after a massive meat recall was announced by Rancho Feeding Corp., which may have affected the frozen Hot Pocket sandwich products. The Petaluma, CA-based food distribution company has recalled more than an estimated 8.7 million pounds of beef after regulators discovered that diseased and unhealthy animals were used to process the meat used to make the Hot Pockets.

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    “While Nestlé did not purchase meat directly from Rancho, our procurement teams worked with our supply chain to understand whether any company in this chain may have purchased meat from Rancho Feeding at any time during 2013, the period of time covered by the Rancho Feeding recall,” the press release stated.

    “From this review, we have confirmed that a small quantity of meat from Rancho was used at Nestlé’s Chatsworth, California production operation, a facility devoted entirely to HOT POCKETS® brand sandwiches.  The affected batches of the two varieties in our range of HOT POCKETS® brand sandwiches are being removed from the marketplace.”

    It has also been stated that the animals in question were not thoroughly inspected prior to processing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service reportedly shut down all operations at the processing plant after it was determined that the meat products were unsuitable for human consumption.

    Although no illnesses have been reported, the USDA recommends that consumers return the recalled products to the retailer where they were purchased. Consumers can also contact Nestlé Customer Service at (800) 392-4057.

    Image via Hot Pockets, Facebook
    Image via Hot Pockets, Facebook

  • Hot Pockets Included In Massive Meat Recall

    If you thought you were safe eating these highly processed foods, namely Nestle’s Hot Pockets, think again.

    A massive meat recall of nearly 9 million pounds of beef from Rancho Feeding Corporation, has included in the recall, the Hot Pocket frozen meals that include an unspecified number of “Philly Steak” and its “Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese” sandwiches.

    The USDA classified the recall as a Class 1, which is defined as “a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

    According to news officials, Mad Cow disease could be in the beef that has been recalled.

    Varied brands of frozen hamburger patties were also included in that recall, with meat that came from Rancho Feeding Corp., and were distributed to Wal-Mart stores in 16 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said that the huge recall at Rancho Feeding Corp. of Petaluma, Calif., occurred because the beef was processed from “diseased and unsound animals” and was “unfit for human consumption.”

    “The products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce,” FSIS said in a news release.

    More than 1,000 companies in seven states are now recalling meat processed at Rancho’s plant: California, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

    The makers of Hot Pockets brand sandwiches, Nestle Corporation, said it reviewed its supply chain after the recall was announced and found that a small amount of meat from Rancho was used in Hot Pockets Philly Steak and Cheese in three different pack sizes and Croissant Crust Philly Steak and Cheese in the two pack box.

    The company said no other batches, sizes, multi-packs, or varieties of Hot Pockets were affected. The list of recalled brands can be found at The Press Democrat.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a press release that gives detailed information for consumers.

    However if you have purchased any of these products, return it to the place of purchase for a full refund or contact Nestle Consumer Services at (800) 392-4057.

    As of today, no illnesses have been reported.

    Image via Nestle Corporation

  • Meat Recall Amounts To a Year’s Worth of Product

    Northern California meat producer, Rancho Feeding Corp., is recalling 8.7 million pounds, or what amounts to about a year’s worth, of meat. The affected meat was processed from Jan. 1, 2013, through Jan. 7, 2014, according to the AP.

    Rancho Feeding Corp. has been under the magnifying glass of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, which determined that the company processed diseased and unhealthy animals. That resulted in the recall of more than 40,000 pounds of meat products produced last month on Jan. 13th, according to CNN.

    The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service said that Rancho Feeding Corp. “processed diseased and unsound animals and carried out these activities without the benefit or full benefit of federal inspection. Thus, the products are adulterated, because they are unsound, unwholesome or otherwise are unfit for human food and must be removed from commerce.”

    The recall notice also noted that there was a “reasonable probability” that eating the affected meat could result in “serious, adverse health consequences or death.”

    The products that are named in the most recent recall are some of the less-popular items like beef carcasses, oxtail, liver, cheeks, tripe, tongue and veal bones. The affected meat products were produced and shipped between January 1, 2013, through January 7, 2014, and all have “EST. 527” in the USDA mark of inspection. They also all have a case code number which will end with a 3 or 4.

    As of yet, there are not any reported illnesses tied to Rancho Feeding Corp. These products did go to distribution centers and retail stores in California, Florida, Illinois and Texas, so please check the labels on any of these kinds of products that you buy.

    Unsurprisingly, phone calls made to Rancho Feeding Corp. for comment over the weekend went unanswered.

    Image via youtube