Update (Friday May 22, 2015:
A complaint that glass was found in Harris Ranch beef sold at Grocery Outlet in Oakley has been unfounded says Harris Ranch.
In a press release issued Friday, they say results of an independent investigation where lab results show the foreign material is definitely not glass nor hard plastic nor any other solid material. The objects were comprised of a soluble crystalline material that easily dissolved in water and appear to be a salt-like substance.
According to Harris Ranch, these intact crystals did not originate at Harris Ranch. They had to be added post-packaging because these salt-like crystals would have dissolved in a moist ground beef environment as evidenced by the lab results.
Original Story
On Tuesday, Grocery Outlet in Oakley has confirmed that they have received a single complaint about glass being in their meat and in response have pulled all the 5 pound meat packages off the shelf.
Melissa Porter, Vice President of Marketing for Grocery Outlet, explained that they are working with Harris Ranch to find a cause as to why glass may have ended up in meat. She highlighted that Harris Ranch does not allow glass in their facility and they have metal detectors for quality control when meat is being processed.
She stated they are working proactively to find a resolution and taking extra precautions saying Harris Ranch is in almost every store in California because its a popular product.
“We take this very seriously and there is no reason to think this didn’t happen,” said Porter. “Harris Ranch is aware and they are checking on their end.”
Porter highlighted that the woman brought the meat to the store Monday but she did not produce any packaging or the receipt which would help them determine the exact lot the meat came from and time frame it may have occurred. The woman has also not returned any calls from corporate to assist them in finding out what may have happened.
“It makes it difficult without a receipt or packaging. We have to put together a point of control to follow the product,” said Porter.
Porter says they are still investigating the issue and provided no further information. At this time, only meat from the Oakley Grocery Outlet has been puled from the shelf.
Update –
According to Tanya Merrigan, she said that she did not have the package because she used part of the meat last week while the receipt went into the trash with the package because this was a quick dinner purchase on the way home.
“I put the remaining meat in a gallon zip lock bag and stored it in my fridge until the other night when I made meat loaf. The meat is not high quality, it’s a pre-packaged roll of meat,” said Merrigan. “There are also seasonings and egg added to the mixture in the picture because it was going to be meat loaf until I found the glass when I was forming the loaf.”
For more information on Grocery Outlet, visit www.groceryoutlet.com
