Meat Industry INSIGHTS Newsletter

971101 BeefAmerica Reopens Neb. Beef Plant Shut By USDA

November 3, 1997

OMAHA - BeefAmerica resumed beef production Monday at its Norfolk, Neb. processing plant that had been shut down following discovery of E.Coli bacteria last week, the company said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday had said it would no longer mark products from the plant "inspected and passed" because of the company's "inability to maintain and operate (the) facility in a sanitary manner."

BeefAmerica said it had worked with USDA over the weekend and that the problems cited by USDA were with documentation and not with the production process.

"Over the weekend, we were able to establish systems that improved our documentation procedures and we assured the USDA that the company is meeting its responsibilities," BeefAmerica CEO Robert Norton said in a statement.

USDA inspectors returned to work as usual at the plant and would again approve meat that passed inspection, the company said.

BeefAmerica recalled last Wednesday 168,725 lbs of ground beef processed at the plant on Oct. 21 after the detection of the deadly E.Coli strain O 157:H7 in a sample.

The beef had not yet reached the consumer level, the company said.

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