Ground beef laced with tiny pieces of plastic may have been served to unsuspecting schoolchildren, the company has now issued a recall.
Central Valley Meat Company from Hanford, Calif. recalled 58,240 pounds of meat, a United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA) press release stated.
The official items cited in the recall were "40-lb. cases containing 10-lb. chubs of 'Fine Ground Beef.'"
The meat was produced on April 1, 2013, and is stamped with either the code "6063A3091A" or "6063A3091B."
The meat was sent to Arkansas, California, Montana and Texas to be used in the National School Lunch Program. The problem was pointed out by customers.
The recall is classified as Class I, which is classified as:
"A health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death," the USDA reported.
There have been no reports of "injury or illness" so far, but anyone who is concerned with health repercussions should contact a medical professional immediately.
"FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers," the press release reported.
In June, pizza from California Pizza Kitchen and DiGiorno Frozen Pizza were recalled after they were found to contain "fragments of clear plastic," a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) press release reported.
The plastic was noticed by a "small number of consumers," who reported the contamination in the CPK Crispy Thin Crust White pizza.
An FDA investigation concluded the source of contamination as the spinach used on that particular brand and variety. Three other varieties that had used the same spinach were also recalled as a precautionary measure.
The other effected flavors included "California Pizza Kitchen limited edition grilled chicken with cabernet sauce, DiGiorno crispy flatbread pizza Tuscan style chicken and DiGiorno pizzeria! Bianca/white pizza," the Chicago Tribune reported.
