Mad Cow Fears Lead To Beef Recall In Missouri

More than 4,000 pounds of beef processed at a Missouri plant have been recalled over fears that they may be contaminated with mad cow disease. The meat was distributed by Jackson, Missouri's Fruitland American Meat to restaurants in New York City and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as a Whole Foods center in Connecticut that distributes products to the chain's New England stores, CNN reported Friday morning. The names of the restaurants that received the beef are not being released by the federal government because they most likely have not yet served it to consumers, the New York Times reported. Though the beef, which was produced and packaged between September 2013 and April 2014, was inspected and did not show signs of mad cow disease -- officially, bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE -- the company recalled the beef due to what the U.S. Department of Agriculture called a "remote" risk that it could be transmitted. The amount of beef was only equal to about four or five steers, according to USA Today, but any mention of mad cow disease in American meat is sure to generate headlines. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service released a statement about the incident, CNN reported:
"All of these animals received full inspection, both before and after slaughter, by FSIS personnel and showed no abnormal signs or symptoms associated with BSE. ... Out of an abundance of caution, FSIS issued a Class II recall (a remote risk) for product that does not have paperwork showing that nerve tissue was removed. FSIS and the company have received no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products."...more