DeCA: No beef involved in recall

  • Published
  • By Bonnie Powell
  • Defense Commissary Agency
FORT LEE, Va. (AFPN) --  Officials at the Defense Commissary Agency are closely monitoring the ever-changing situation involving a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as “mad cow” disease, identified Dec. 23 in a single cow in Washington state.

Since Dec. 23 the U.S. Department of Agriculture has conducted a limited recall of 10,000 pounds of beef that may have originated from the infected cow and from cows slaughtered at the same time and location.

“No beef in any of our 275 commissaries worldwide has been involved in a USDA recall,” said Col. Mark Wolken, chief of public health, safety and security for the agency. “The USDA has stated that the U.S. beef supply is safe and that the beef recall resulted from an abundance of caution, not fear that the meat is infected. Should the USDA make a determination that there is a danger, DeCA would be first to react to protect the health of our customers.”

Since the first U.S. case of BSE was identified Dec. 23, commissary customers have raised questions about the safety of beef purchased at their local commissary. Questions range from “should I return the ground beef I bought last week?” to “has my commissary received meat from the infected cow?”

The answer to both questions is “no” said Wolken, an Army veterinarian.

Wolken said the brain, spinal cord and lower intestine -- where the protein or “prion” that is believed to cause BSE is found -- is not generally used in food consumed by Americans. Those parts were removed from the infected cow before any of it could enter the meat supply.

USDA investigators have determined that the recalled meat went to a few commercial markets in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana and Guam as well as Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada.

“No commissaries received any of those shipments,” Wolken emphasized. “But I can certainly understand customers having concerns and questions. We’re all affected by this -- we’re all concerned.”

Customers who choose to return products to the commissary may do so for a full refund, he said.

Mad cow is a fatal disease that destroys the brain of the infected animal. It is caused in cattle by misshapen proteins called prions and is thought to be spread from animal to animal through contaminated feed. A rare form of the disease in humans known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been linked to the consumption of contaminated beef products. About 140 deaths linked to mad cow since the mid-1990s have mainly been in Britain.

For the latest developments on the current situation as well as for links to the USDA and other information on recalls and food safety, commissary customers can check the food safety link at www.commissaries.com.