The massive ground beef recall initiated in October by the nation’s largest beef processor–JBS USA–has gotten even bigger, USA Today reports.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says an additional 5.1 million-plus pounds has been recalled beyond the 6.9 million pounds recalled two months ago for risk of contamination.
The 12.1 million pounds of raw beef products including ground beef were produced between July 26 and Sept. 7 by JBS USA at its processing plant in Tolleson, Arizona, and sold nationwide.
Despite its size, the recall is not the largest ever. The largest nationwide meat recall was 143 million pounds by Westland/Hallmark Meat in 2008 for products potentially infected with mad cow disease. Prior to that, the largest ground beef recall occurred in 1997 when Hudson Foods recalled 25 million pounds of ground beef.
Other major recalls include ConAgra’s 2002 recall of about 19 million pounds of ground beef and the 2007 recall of more than 21.7 million pounds of ground beef that drove Topps Meat Co. of Elizabeth, New Jersey, out of business.
JBS USA has had other recent recalls. Last month, the meat processor recalled nearly 100,000 pounds of ground beef for possible E. coli contamination. In May, JBS USA recalled 35,464 pounds of raw ground beef processed at its Lenoir, North Carolina, facility for possible contamination with hard plastic pieces.
