The USDA has ordered a recall of nearly 1,000 pounds of “ready-to-eat” beef products sold at Tucson Tamale Co. restaurants, the agency announced Friday.
The recalled products contain meat produced without federal inspection, U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Sarah R. Lichtman said in a news release.
No illnesses or adverse symptoms have been reported, but the USDA listed the recall as a high health risk.
The products include certain 10- or 11-ounce packages of two red chile beef tamales, chipotle beef tamales and chipotle beef and cheese tamales that were sold between Aug. 11 and Sept 13. The packaging dates and codes can be found at bit.ly/2cxoAW7.
The 915 pounds of tamales in question were sold only in the company’s restaurants, either without packaging or in foil “to-go” containers or with the original packaging intact, the news release said.
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The USDA found the issue during routine inspections earlier in the week, Lichtman said.
Owner Todd Martin said Tucson Tamale has for a number of years purchased its meat from Merit Foods, which has its beef inspected by the Arizona Department of Agriculture.
“On August 10, we became certified to be federally inspected by the USDA as opposed to the state,” he said. “The inspector we have on site at the restaurant every day looked up the regulations and said we were fine with the meat we had in stock.”
The next day, a different inspector came, saw the Arizona Department of Agriculture sticker, and informed Martin that the USDA rule doesn’t allow state-inspected meat to be used in federally certified restaurants, he said.
Earlier this week, the USDA took a batch of tamales from the restaurant and tested them to make sure they were safe, Martin said, adding that everything came back fine.
The company has already started using new beef from Merit’s federally inspected facility and is now cutting and preparing it on site, instead of having the state facility cut and repackage the products.
“The good news is, most of our customers dine in, so they would have already eaten it,” Martin said. “But they could have some two-packs to take home and freeze.”
The USDA is urging anyone who purchased the recalled products to throw them away or return them to the restaurant. Martin said employees are aware of the situation and customers should feel free to bring them back.
Tucson Tamale Co. has three restaurants in Tucson, at 2545 E. Broadway, 7159 E. Tanque Verde Road and 7286 N. Oracle Road.
