Island supermarkets say their meat is safe

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Staff Writer

Major Hawai'i supermarket chains yesterday assured consumers they did not buy or sell the meat being recalled by the federal government because of a confirmed case of mad cow disease in Washington state.

Federal officials confirmed yesterday that Hawai'i is one of eight states that received beef shipments being recalled.

Hawai'i grocery chains including Safeway, Times Super Market, Star Markets, Foodland, Sack N Save and KTA Super Stores all reported that they are certain they did not receive the beef.

The cow with the confirmed case of mad cow disease was slaughtered along with 19 other cows on Dec. 9 at Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co., in Moses Lake, Wash.

From there, meat products were sent to 42 buyers through Willamette Valley Meats in Portland, Ore., and Interstate Meat Distributors in Clackamas, Ore., but federal officials have not identified the 42 buyers.

Federal Food Safety Inspection Service officials said at least 80 percent of the meat products were distributed to stores in Oregon and Washington, with some also sent to Nevada and California.

There was a more limited distribution of the meat in Hawai'i, Alaska, Montana, Idaho and Guam. Dr. Ron DeHaven, chief veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told reporters in a briefing yesterday the amounts shipped to those states and Guam may be very small.

"It appears that in at least one or so of those states 'limited' may mean one location," DeHaven said. "And in fact we're talking about small quantities that were distributed to largely ethnic retail outlets, though there may be one or two grocery chains in there."

Federal officials stressed there is "essentially zero risk" to consumers because the brain, spinal cord and lower intestine — parts that carry infection — were removed from the cow before its meat was processed.

The government recall involves about 10,410 pounds of meat.

The federal Food Safety Inspection Service is verifying that the 42 buyers that received the meat are notifying their customers, according to the USDA.

Mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, causes humans who eat brain or spinal matter from an infected cow to develop variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which eats holes in the brain, leading to neuromuscular deterioration and death.

In Britain, 143 people died from the disease after an outbreak of mad cow in the 1980s.

'Kind of business as usual'

The state Health Department reported about 20 calls from Hawai'i consumers wondering if the beef they bought recently was safe to eat.

Shoppers at Star Market in Mo'ili'ili yesterday afternoon said they were aware of the reports that some tainted beef may have been shipped to the state and some are changing their buying habits.

Mililani resident Sue Bevacqua said the reports about tainted meat made her avoid buying beef yesterday in a trip to the supermarket.

Shopping with her husband, 10-year-old-son and 9-year-old daughter, Bevacqua said she felt it was better to be cautious. "I'm just leaning more toward vegetarian, fish and chicken."

Jodi Yoshioka, of Wilhelmina Rise, said she hasn't changed her shopping habits much because she has been getting away from serving beef to her family as part of a push to eat healthier overall.

Yoshioka has a 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. "We don't eat too much red meat, " she said.

Representatives of major grocery chains in the state reported that shoppers were asking questions at the meat counters, but continued to buy normal quantities of beef.

"I guess I don't think it's that pervasive," said Gwen Biggert as she emerged from the Safeway in Hilo yesterday with her 6-year-old son, Nathan Ducasse. Biggert said her family eats beef from time to time, and she hasn't curtailed her meat purchases because of the mad cow alarm.

Kenneth Fujii, assistant manager at the busiest of the KTA Stores at Puainako in Hilo, said yesterday he did not know of anyone asking questions about the meats, expressing concerns or trying to return beef they had bought at the store.

"It's pretty much kind of business as usual over here," he said, speaking over the buzz of saws in the store's meat department.

Gov. Linda Lingle said yesterday, "I don't feel there is anything for our consumers to be worried about at this time. If that changes, then we'll certainly let everyone know. But again, at this point, there is a 99 percent chance there is no contamination in Hawai'i."

Statements from stores

John Fujieki, chief executive officer and president of Star Markets, said the company would post a letter at meat counters yesterday explaining that his stores buy their meats from Unified Western Grocers and Palama Meat Company, which do not buy beef from the Washington area.

Just the same, if consumers want to return meat they bought at the store, Fujieki said Star stores would take it back. Star has six stores on O'ahu, three on Maui and one on Kaua'i.

Foodland Super Market Limited issued a written statement that none of its Foodland or Sack N Save stores have been affected by the Hawai'i meat recall.

"Foodland has been working with its beef suppliers to ensure that all of its beef products are safe," the statement said. Foodland reported that both of its beef suppliers, Palama Meat Company and Swift & Co. in Colorado, do not purchase meat from the vendors identified in connection with the disease.

Safeway spokeswoman Teena Massingill in California said none of Safeway's meat in Hawai'i was subject to the recall.

KTA President Barry Taniguchi said the meat sold in the company's six stores on the Big Island comes from the Midwest — not Washington — and his company is seeking certifications from meat processors to confirm that.

Dr. Linda Rosen, deputy director of the state Health Department, stressed that the risk of the disease remains low. "Anybody who may have inadvertently consumed some of this meat should not worry," she said.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916. Advertiser reporters Robbie Dingeman, Deborah Adamson and Gordon Pang contributed to this report.