Hawai'i stores responsible for meat recall notification
| • | Screening upgraded to ensure beef safety in U.S. |
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer
A U.S. Department of Agriculture official yesterday said any Hawai'i business that received meat recalled because of the confirmed case of mad cow disease in Washington state should have been notified, and is responsible for informing customers.
Daniel Puzo, spokesman for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said officials still suspect some of the recalled beef was brought to Hawai'i, though no store or restaurant here has been identified publicly as receiving the beef.
Puzo could not say "with 100 percent certainty" yesterday that recalled meat did or did not come to Hawai'i. He said the USDA would not release the names of 42 distributors that sold the recalled meat, on advice from attorneys that such information could harm the businesses.
He said the distributors on the list "are under direction to contact anyone and everyone that they have sold this meat to."
Puzo said the recall covered all 10,410 pounds of meat from 20 cows processed at Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co. in Moses Lake, Wash., on Dec. 9 , though only one cow tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.
He and other officials continued to emphasize that the recall was made as a precaution. Officials believe there is no health risk from meat that does not contain parts, such as the brain and spinal cord, most closely linked to the disease.
Officials said 80 percent of the meat was sold in Oregon and Washington, and 20 percent went to Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Hawai'i and Guam.
Puzo said government officials felt it was not urgent to release distributors' names, because the risk from the meat is low and the recalled meat probably has been eaten or pulled from shelves by now.
Major supermarket chains in Hawai'i have said their meat was not subject to the recall. They include Safeway, Foodland Super Markets, Star Markets, Times Super Market, KTA Super Stores, Costco, military commissaries, Y. Hata & Co., which supplies to hotels and restaurants, fast-food restaurants and the eight small stores that belong to Independent Grocers of Hawai'i.
"We don't know the status in Hawai'i, but in other states it went to restaurants and supermarkets," Puzo said.
Jim Gomez, owner of Marujyu Market in Waimalu and president of the association of small grocers, said he had not heard of anyone who received the meat.
If the meat was ground before shipment, Gomez said it was less likely to be shipped to Hawai'i, because most stores here grind their own meat. "Hamburger has a short shelf life, so it would have to be used in days, not weeks," he said.
U.S. Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawai'i, said yesterday he was asking Canadian authorities to allow a shipment of Big Island cattle scheduled to arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Jan. 8 for transport to the United States. Case is hoping to avoid any problems with the shipment of calves under 12 months old. Canada's partial ban on importation of U.S. cattle applies to cattle more than 30 months old.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
