Show Comments (
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
Burger With a Side of Plastic: More Than 35,000 Pounds of Ground Beef Recalled Due to Contamination
Nevit Dilmen / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
One unlucky diner found a nasty surprise in their ground beef―pieces of hard, blue plastic.
That discovery has led to a recall of more than 35,000 pounds of ground beef sold in Kroger stores, The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday.
The recall was announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to the consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider," the USDA release said.
According to the USDA, the beef in question was produced by Lenoir, North Carolina-based JBS USA, Inc. on March 22, 2018. It was then shipped to Virginia and Indiana to be distributed to retailers.
The USDA expressed concern that some of the potentially-contaminated beef might be stored in customers' freezers. They urged anyone who had purchased the beef not to eat it, but instead to throw it away or return it to the store.
Of course, most of the plastic we consume does not lead to a recall, since it is usually too small to detect.
A study published March 29 in Environmental Pollution found that we likely consume around 114 microplastics with every meal, usually from plastic fibers from clothing, furniture or tires that make their way into household dust.
Humans also consume plastic by eating seafood. A 2016 study found plastic in a third of all fish caught in the UK, The Guardian reported last year. According to the same article, which provides an in-depth look at the ocean plastic problem, some of that plastic enters the fish when they consume zooplankton, who eat it first, and some if it is consumed by fish directly. Studies have shown that toxins contained in microplastics leach into the tissues of marine life, and there are concerns that this could impact the health of human seafood eaters.
Usually, there is no sign on the food you eat indicating whether it contains plastic or not, but if you think you might have purchased some of the plastic-contaminated ground beef, here are the labels to look out for, according to the USDA:
- 3-lb. tray packages containing "Kroger GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN - 27% FAT" with product code 95051, UPC: 011110975645, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "Kroger GROUND BEEF 80% LEAN - 20% FAT" with product code 95052, UPC: 011110969729, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 3-lb. tray packages containing "Kroger GROUND BEEF 80% LEAN - 20% FAT" with product code 95053, UPC of 011110969705, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "PRIVATE SELECTION ANGUS BEEF 80% LEAN - 20% FAT GROUND CHUCK" with product code 95054, UPC: 011110971395, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "Kroger GROUND BEEF 85% LEAN - 15% FAT" with product code 95055, UPC: 011110969682, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "Kroger GROUND SIRLOIN 90% LEAN - 10% FAT GROUND BEEF" and product code 95056, UPC: 011110975638, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "ALL NATURAL LAURA'S LEAN BEEF 92% LEAN - 8% FAT GROUND BEEF" with product code 95057, UPC: 612669316714, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "ALL NATURAL LAURA'S LEAN BEEF 96% LEAN - 4% FAT GROUND BEEF" with product code 95058, UPC: 612669317063, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "PRIVATE SELECTION ANGUS BEEF 90% LEAN - 10% FAT GROUND SIRLOIN" with product code 95063, UPC: 011110969637 and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 1-lb. tray packages containing "Kroger GROUND BEEF 93% LEAN - 7% FAT" with product code 95064, UPC: 01111096920, and a Sell By date of 4/9/2018
- 15-lb. cases containing "JBS Ground Beef Angus Chuck 80% Lean - 20% Fat Service Case" with Case UPC: 0040404800632 and a "Sell By: 9.APRIL"
- 15-lb. cases containing "Ground Beef Angus Sirloin 90% Lean - 10% Fat Service Case" Case UPC: 0040404800634, and a "Sell By: 9.APRIL"
The establishment number inside the USDA mark of inspection on the recalled packages is "EST. 34176."
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
PhotoAlto / Laurence Mouton / Getty Images
By Ana Reisdorf, MS, RD
You've probably heard the buzz around collagen supplements and your skin by now. But is the hype really that promising? After all, research has pointed to both the benefits and downsides of collagen supplements — and for many beauty-conscious folk, collagen isn't vegan.
Read More
Show Less
Pixabay
By Marlene Cimons
Neil Pederson's introduction to tree rings came from a "sweet and kindly" college instructor, who nevertheless was "one of the most boring professors I'd ever experienced," Pederson said. "I swore tree rings off then and there." But they kept coming back to haunt him.
Read More
Show Less
Sponsored
Aerial view of the explosion site of a chemical factory on March 22 in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province of China. Caixin Media / VCG / Getty Images)
At least 47 people have died in an explosion at a plant in Yancheng, China Thursday run by a chemical company with a history of environmental violations, Sky News reported.
Read More
Show Less
A fishmonger in Elmina, a fishing port in the Central Region of Ghana. Environmental Justice Foundation
By Daisy Brickhill
Each morning, men living in fishing communities along Ghana's coastline push off in search of the day's catch. But when the boats come back to shore, it's the women who take over.
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Pexels
By Sam Nickerson
Links between excess sugar in your diet and disease have been well-documented, but new research by Harvard's School of Public Health might make you even more wary of that next soda: it could increase your risk of an early death.
The study, published this week in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, found that drinking one or two sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) each day — like sodas or sports drinks — increases risk of an early death by 14 percent.
Read More
Show Less
Sponsored
Tyson Foods Recalls Nearly 70,000 Pounds of Chicken Strips After Customers Find ‘Fragments of Metal’
22 March
Food
Krystal B / Flickr
Tyson Foods is recalling approximately 69,093 pounds of frozen chicken strips because they may have been contaminated with pieces of metal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Thursday.
The affected products were fully-cooked "Buffalo Style" and "Crispy" chicken strips with a "use by" date of Nov. 30, 2019 and an establishment number of "P-7221" on the back of the package.
"FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers' freezers," the recall notice said. "Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase."
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Pixabay
A tractor spraying a field with pesticides in Orem, Utah. Aqua Mechanical / CC BY 2.0
Environmental exposure to pesticides, both before birth and during the first year of life, has been linked to an increased risk of developing autism spectrum disorder, according to the largest epidemiological study to date on the connection.
The study, published Wednesday in BMJ, found that pregnant women who lived within 2,000 meters (approximately 1.2 miles) of a highly-sprayed agricultural area in California had children who were 10 to 16 percent more likely to develop autism and 30 percent more likely to develop severe autism that impacted their intellectual ability. If the children were exposed to pesticides during their first year of life, the risk they would develop autism went up to 50 percent.
Read More
Show Less