A Missouri slaughter house recalled 4,012 pounds (1,800 kg) of fresh beef over concerns that nervous tissue that could contain the "mad cow" disease pathogen may not have been properly removed from the meat before shipment, a federal food safety agency said.
The recalled bone-in ribeye roasts and quartered carcasses from Jackson, Missouri-based Fruitland American Meat were delivered to restaurants in New York City and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as a Whole Foods distribution center in Connecticut that services the region, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement on Wednesday.
The agency said no adverse events had been reported. Officials at the agency did not immediately respond to request for comment on Thursday.
The Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service discovered the problem during a review of the company's slaughter logs. Reviewers found the firm may not have removed dorsal root ganglia tissue from cattle aged 30 months and older, in violation of federal regulations.
That tissue is considered a risk material as it can contain the pathogen responsible for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, more broadly known as mad cow disease, in affected cows. The disease is transmissible to humans and can be fatal.
The agency rated the health risk of the recall as low in the statement.
In April, a Texas man became the fourth person in the country to die of a fatal brain illness thought to be caused by mad cow disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
