Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller demands answers after nearly 30,000-pound beef recall
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is demanding answers after the recent recall of nearly 30,000 pounds of raw beef from Argentina.
Officials from Texas and Florida recalled the meat because the product entered U.S. commerce without going through a standard reinspection process. He says the USDA needs to answer for this mix-up.
"We've been doing this for a year," Miller said. "How much got through we didn't know about? How much is out there, uninspected, that we didn't catch? We caught this one basically treasure truck trove of 30,000 pounds. I think the agriculture committees in the House and Senate need to bring Brooke Rollins, USDA, we need to figure out what happened. We don't need a repeat of this. We gotta get to the problem and fix it."
Five products, all of which are boneless beef products in cardboard boxes of various weights and carry the "FrigorIfico Gorina SAIC" brand, are impacted:
- "Top Sirloin Butt" ("Cuadril Sin Tapa")
- "Eye Round" ("Peceto")
- "Topside Cap Off" ("Nalga AD S/Tapa")
- "Flat" ("Carnaza Cuadrada")
- "Knuckle" ("Bola de Lomo")
"The sad part about it is this: when it's repackaged and mixed with our beef, it can be labeled as a product of the USA. We don't even know what it's from Argentina," said Miller. "That's lying to the American consumer."
The recall comes about a year after President Trump announced a plan to import more meat from Argentina. Miller has said he disagrees with that plan.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association, along with the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America and other farming groups — who are normally some of the president's biggest supporters — all criticized Trump's plan because of what it could do to American ranchers and feedlot operators. And agricultural economists say Argentine beef accounts for such a small slice of beef imports — only about 2% — that even doubling that wouldn't change prices much.
Several factors have sent beef prices soaring, starting with continued strong demand combined with the smallest U.S. herd size since 1961.
