Wellness

[Mindy D]

FSIS Issues Public Health Alert for Ineligible Imported Meat and Poultry Products from China FSIS Announcement

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2021 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert for an undetermined amount of imported meat and poultry products from China. A recall was not requested because FSIS has been unable to identify and contact the importers. The total amount of ineligible product is undetermined because the investigation is ongoing.

The products subject to the public health alert and labels are listed here.❗️

The meat and poultry products do not identify an eligible establishment number on their packaging and were not presented to FSIS for import reinspection. These products are ineligible to import into the U.S., making them unfit for human consumption.

The problem was identified through an investigation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). FSIS will continue working with CBP and APHIS on the ongoing investigation.

Retailers who have purchased the products are urged not to sell them. Consumers who purchased the products should not consume them and need to dispose of them properly. Consumers are asked to dispose of the products by double bagging them to reduce the possibility of animals accessing the products. USDA cannot confirm whether the products were properly heated to control pathogens that affect domestic livestock.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an illness should contact a health care provider.

Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.

Product Images

pha-12292021-01-product-list_0.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2a...

USDA page for this alert is here.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi4goj0jY_1AhUNlWoFHV20Db4Q...

Note:

There are 43 pages of photos. These foods could wind up on our plates. USDA is trying to track these imports. 

[Annabellethecat66]

Ugh!  Who would eat that stuff anyway?

[decaf]

Someone must be buying it or it wouldn't be sold .  Much of it likely sold in oriental/Asian food markets and other places too. 

It's apparent and troubling our gov't doesn't seem to have a way to trace all of our food supply.  That's a bigger problem. 

[Snowpuppy]

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@Annabellethecat66 wrote:

Ugh!  Who would eat that stuff anyway?

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1. People who dont read labels

2. People who want to eat foods from their native country.

While they asked retailers not to sell the products to consumers, you really think they will?

[Bhvbum]

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@decaf wrote:

Someone must be buying it or it wouldn't be sold .  Much of it likely sold in oriental/Asian food markets and other places too. 

It's apparent and troubling our gov't doesn't seem to have a way to trace all of our food supply.  That's a bigger problem. 

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Essentially that is impossible. Do you really think that every shirt and sweater and pants that's imported into the US is inspected? Or the same thing goes for food, they can only do a small sample. What actually is important, that in their sampling they found it.  

Why do you think Oriental/Asians would want substandard foods?

This could be headed for the pet food industry. 

[decaf]

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@Bhvbum wrote:

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@decaf wrote:

Someone must be buying it or it wouldn't be sold .  Much of it likely sold in oriental/Asian food markets and other places too. 

It's apparent and troubling our gov't doesn't seem to have a way to trace all of our food supply.  That's a bigger problem. 

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Essentially that is impossible. Do you really think that every shirt and sweater and pants that's imported into the US is inspected? Or the same thing goes for food, they can only do a small sample. What actually is important, that in their sampling they found it.  

Why do you think Oriental/Asians would want substandard foods?

This could be headed for the pet food industry. 

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I disagree,first, this has nothing to do with clothing and I definitely never said those things you accuse me of.

Our food supply should be completely traceableand it's not.

Asians eat many different foods than we do including meats/fish.poultry that many/most Americans would never eat.  See post #2.

This investigation involves human food, not pet food.  They issued a "public health alert".  For humans. It's the title of the OP.

[PickyPicky3]

If I'm reading this right, someone was trying to sneak this food into the US without inspection or proper labeling and got caught, so the FSIS assumes some actually got in. ???

[skatting44]

Wonder how many Asian restaurants may have bought  & used these ingredients in dishes that customers may not know abt ?

[Mindy D]

@PickyPicky3 You got it. This was a sneak in. A deliberate attempt to bypass required inspection from the USDA. 

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@PickyPicky3 wrote:

If I'm reading this right, someone was trying to sneak this food into the US without inspection or proper labeling and got caught, so the FSIS assumes some actually got in. ???

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[PickyPicky3]

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@skatting44 wrote:

Wonder how many Asian restaurants may have bought  & used these ingredients in dishes that customers may not know abt ?

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@skatting44       I thought about showing this to my go-to Chinese takeout, but I'm not sure if it would be helpful or insulting.