Caviness Beef Packers recalls meat over E.coli link

By Oscar Rousseau

- Last updated on GMT

Cavines Beef Packers supplied mince to Texas retailers through a third party
Cavines Beef Packers supplied mince to Texas retailers through a third party

Related tags Recall election Beef

Texas meat processor Caviness Beef Packers has recalled close to a tonne of boneless beef products that US health officials fear could be contaminated with E. coli.

The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the company was recalling around 2,100lb of boneless beef trim that may be contaminated with E.coli strain O103.

Caviness Beef Packers is a supplier of the US-government backed National School Lunch Program, which provides low-cost or free lunches to school children in America. The shipments of beef implicated in the recall were never intended for National School Lunch Program, according to the US government.

FSIS and the company are concerned that some product may be frozen and in consumers’ freezers,​” said the USDA in a statement.

No reported illnesses

The products subject to this recall were also additionally processed by another unnamed firm. This company transported Caviness’ meat products to retail locations in Texas.

The possible E.coli contamination was discovered by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. Because Caviness Beef Packers is involved in regularly supplying meals to school children, its meat is regularly subjected to routine microbiological testing.

Whilst there have been no confirmed reports of illnesses related to the recalled meat, the E.coli strain is more severe than other similar bacterium, according to the USDA. It is also much harder to identify: many clinical labs do not test for non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E.coli strains because they are so difficult to identify.

Cavines Beef Packers is a family-owned business led by second and third-generation cattle ranchers. Across two meat factories the company processes around 1,700 cows per day and operates seven beef brands.

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