DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) –The owner of an Iowa meat company says the federal government has needlessly requested that he recall 5,200 pounds of meat that he claims is safe and has likely already been consumed by thousands of people across seven states.
Jim Goeser, owner of Jim’s Market and Locker Inc., said tests have negated the government’s claim that his meat may have the same E. coli strain responsible for three deaths in the recent outbreak of contaminated spinach.
Goeser said he voluntarily issued the recall Friday after federal inspectors questioned the testing methods used by a slaughterhouse in Omaha, Neb. No illnesses have been reported and none likely will, he said.
“We are absolutely confident as we can be that the meat is as clean as it can be,” Goeser told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The Harlan-based company produced the ground beef patties and packages Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, and sent it to distributors in Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin, and to one retail outlet in Iowa, said the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service.
The service said customers who bought the products affected by the recall should return them to the place of purchase.
Goeser said he doesn’t expect many returns, since the meat had a 25-day window for consumption that ended last month.
“It’s already been consumed by the general public, and zero complaints,” he said.
“What little we get back, we’re going to test it.”
Goeser questioned the timing of the recall and criticized federal inspectors, who he said “spent hours and hours in my plant accomplishing nothing.”
While no illnesses have been reported, Goeser said the recall may cripple his business.
“Just because the bad press, we’ve already had a nice-sized order canceled,” Goeser said.
“We’re going to have to work like crazy to get them back.”
Dennis Greening, district manager in Iowa for the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service, would not comment on the recall. He deferred comment to the agency’s Washington office, which did not immediately return phone messages Saturday.
The recall is the first significant one involving ground beef since a Tennessee company recalled some 4,300 pounds in early August, also because of possible E. coli contamination.
E. coli lives in the intestines of cattle and other animals and typically is linked to contamination by fecal material. It’s believed responsible for about 60 deaths and 73,000 infections a year in the United States.
Each package in the Iowa recall bears the establishment number “Est. 2424” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
AP-ES-10-07-06 2025EDT
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