FOOD SAFETY
Cargill: Bone in Hong Kong beef shipment 'not a food safety issue'
by Ann Bagel on 4/11/2006 for Meatingplace.com
Although Hong Kong has suspended beef imports from Cargill Meat Solutions' Dodge City, Kan., plant after bone was discovered in a shipment originating there, a Cargill spokesman says the incident was "not a food safety issue."
Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said the bone was found during an inspection last Thursday, and the decision to suspend imports from the Cargill facility was made Friday.
However, Cargill denies that the bone presented a risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. "The small bone on one strip loin in one 74-lb. box is what you would find on a bone-in strip steak," spokesman Mark Klein said in an e-mail, according to Reuters. "It has no tie to specified risk materials."
It is not known how long the plant will be prevented from shipping to Hong Kong. In March, Hong Kong suspended imports from Swift Beef Co. because of a problem with bone parts in a shipment. That suspension has not been lifted yet.
Cargill: Bone in Hong Kong beef shipment 'not a food safety issue'
by Ann Bagel on 4/11/2006 for Meatingplace.com
Although Hong Kong has suspended beef imports from Cargill Meat Solutions' Dodge City, Kan., plant after bone was discovered in a shipment originating there, a Cargill spokesman says the incident was "not a food safety issue."
Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said the bone was found during an inspection last Thursday, and the decision to suspend imports from the Cargill facility was made Friday.
However, Cargill denies that the bone presented a risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. "The small bone on one strip loin in one 74-lb. box is what you would find on a bone-in strip steak," spokesman Mark Klein said in an e-mail, according to Reuters. "It has no tie to specified risk materials."
It is not known how long the plant will be prevented from shipping to Hong Kong. In March, Hong Kong suspended imports from Swift Beef Co. because of a problem with bone parts in a shipment. That suspension has not been lifted yet.
