USDA
A retail customer of JBS reported the contamination on Dec. 24.
 
WASHINGTON – Cactus, Texas-based Swift Beef Co., a subsidiary of JBS USA, Greeley, Colorado, announced a recall of 4,702 lbs. of beef stew product that may be contaminated with foreign matter, the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) reported on Dec. 26.

The problem was reported on Dec. 24, 2017, by officials with the HEB grocery store chain in San Antonio, Texas, when suspected product was discovered in vacuum-packed containers of the stew. After confirming the beef stew was contaminated with foreign matter, HEB pulled the products from all the stores.  

The affected products include:

  • Cases containing six 5-lb. bulk Cryovac plastic bags containing fresh beef stew meat intended for HEB grocery store retailer re-package.  The affected case code is 69404.   
  • Re-packaged various weight beef stew meat trays that also contain separately wrapped vegetables. The meat trays are marked with establishment 7231 on the side of the tray.
  • Re-packaged various weight beef stew labeled as HEB brand: Beef Stew Meat Tenderized RP, Beef Stew Meat RP, Beef Stew Meat VP, Beef Stew Meat-CR VP, Beef Stew Meat Tenderized VP, Beef Stew Meat CP, and Beef Stew Kit.

The products bear establishment number “EST. 3D” inside the USDA mark of inspection or ESt. 7231 and were shipped to HEB retail stores in Texas. The boneless beef stew items were produced on Dec. 13, 2017.