Kroger Beef Products Recalled For Plastic Pieces

A major supplier is recalling over 35,000 pounds of raw beef products — some of which were sold at Kroger supermarkets — that may be contaminated with bits of hard plastic, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The raw ground beef products were produced in North Carolina by supplier JBS USA on March 22 and shipped to centers in Virginia and Indiana for further distribution.

The Daily Meal has reached out to JBS to determine whether the meat was distributed to any other supermarket chains, but has not received a response.

Affected products range from 1-pound to 15-pound trays of Kroger, Private Selection, Laura's, and JBS brands of ground beef, plus one other generic "Ground Beef Angus Sirloin" variety. Each package is adorned with "EST. 34176" inside the USDA mark of inspection. For a full list of product numbers and UPC codes, click here.

"We are aware of the JBS recall and have verified that none of these products are in our stores today. We encourage customers to check their freezers for the potentially affected products and not to consume them but throw them away or return them to their place of purchase for a full refund," a Kroger spokesperson told The Daily Meal, adding that Kroger stores in Illinois and Indiana, and subsidiaries Food 4 Less and Jay C stores in the Midwest were affected. 

The problem was discovered after a consumer found and complained about hard blue pieces of plastic in one of the products listed above. There have been no reported illnesses or other reactions in connection to this recall, but the Food Safety Inspection Service is concerned about customers who may still have these items in their freezers. They should be thrown out immediately or returned to the place of purchase for a full refund.

The same thing goes for romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona, certain Greenbelt Greenhouse Microgreens, and several listeria-tainted ice pops. At least your favorite restaurants are safe... for now. Here are 11 times chain eateries gave people food poisoning.