Posted on 09/05/2008 12:40:58 PM PDT by BGHater
The government of Mexico has voluntarily suspended shipments of meat and processed poultry to the United States after U.S. officials raised concerns about the quality of Mexican food processing and inspections, an Agriculture Department official said Thursday.
The department's Food Safety and Inspection Service identified systemic problems with sanitation controls and recordkeeping during an annual audit that took place in Mexico between June 24 and July 31.
The voluntary suspension began Aug. 29, said Amanda Eamich, a spokeswoman for the service. About 2 percent of beef and poultry in the U.S. comes from Mexican producers.
"Safety concerns in multiple establishments were not identified by Mexican in-plant inspection personnel, demonstrating that Mexico's system to verify its plants were producing safe food in a clean facility was insufficient," Eamich said.
She said the audit report was not yet completed and would be posted on the agency's Web site within 60 days.
It was not known how long the suspension would last as Mexico takes steps to improve food safety.
Food & Water Watch, a consumer advocacy group, said it had raised concerns with the department in late August about Mexico's exports of meat and poultry.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
Well, IIRC, the last one was Salmonella St. Paul. Which the Mexican government claimed had never been found in Mexico. It was.
>>Um, does she ground her own beef?
;-)<<
We do have meat grinder attachment for our mixer but generally she just shops at Whole Foods...
NO MORE DELIVERIES of BEEF RECTUMS to MEXICAN RESTAURANTS - THEY are COMPLAINING ABOUT THE QUALITY..
I wonder what the quality problem was?..... LOL.
Jebus, as if we don’t have enough trouble with our own meat processing plants, we’re getting meat and poultry from Mexico???
I know FReepers aren’t too fond of vegetarians, but I’m glad I’ve gone vegan (hey, if I didn’t go off the deep end, I wouldn’t be a FReeper, would I?) and don’t have to worry about this kind of thing anymore.
LOL! When you find out, tell the rest of us, ok?
I feel sick ..
That was deeply into “I was afraid to ask” territory.
At least 12 dead, from sliced meat. .
Where does Maple Leaf Foods get their meat?
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