Texas Firm Recalls Smoked Beef Brisket Product For Possible Listeria Contamination

Lone Star Brisket Company, a Thorndale, Texas, establishment, is recalling approximately 207 pounds of smoked beef products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The following product is subject to recall: [View Labels, JPG Only]
2 to 3 pound vacuum packed “Texas Star Meat Company SMOKED BEEF BRISKET Fully Cooked.” Each label bears the establishment number “EST. 27340” inside the USDA mark of inspection and a day-glo sticker “Sliced” next to the product label.

Recommendations for people at risk for Listeriosis

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline
1-888-MPHOTLINE or visit
www.fsis.usda.gov

Wash hands with warm, soapy water before and after handling raw meat and poultry for at least 20 seconds. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean spills.

Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.

Do not eat hot dogs, luncheon meats, bologna or other deli meats unless reheated until steaming hot.

Do not eat refrigerated pate, meat spreads from a meat counter or smoked seafood found in the refrigerated section of the store. Foods that don’t need refrigeration, like canned tuna and canned salmon, are safe to eat. Refrigerate after opening.

Do not drink raw (unpasteurized) milk and do not eat foods that have unpasteurized milk in them.

Do not eat salads made in the store such as ham salad, chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad or seafood salad.

Do not eat soft cheeses such as Feta, quesco blanco, quesco fresco, Brie, Camembert cheeses, blue-veined cheeses and Panela unless it is labeled as made with pasteurized milk.

Use precooked or ready-to-eat food as soon as you can. Listeria can grow in the refrigerator. The refrigerator should be 40ºF or lower and the freezer 0ºF or lower. Use an appliance thermometer to check the temperature of your refrigerator.

Each 50-pound case, which can be identified by the case code “222A”, contains approximately twenty (20) 2 to 3 pound briskets. The smoked beef brisket products were produced on Aug. 11, 2009 and distributed to Department of Defense Commissaries in New Mexico and Oklahoma.

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 problem was discovered through FSIS’s microbiological sampling program. FSIS has received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Healthy people rarely contract listeriosis. However, listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a physician.

Media and consumers with questions about the recall should contact company General Manager Chris Frazier at (512) 898-5423.

Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.