MICRONESIAN Brokers Inc. on Thursday informed the public that the Ox & Palm corned beef products sold on island are not part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture recall, and are safe for consumption.
The letter from Micronesian Brokers was signed by its general manager, Dennis Yoshimoto, and Dr. Paul Pomes, a USDA inspector who can be contacted at (671) 929-4840.
Micronesian Brokers said all Ox & Palm products “are made with Angus Beef and are of the highest quality. Micronesian Brokers…imports…directly from Heinz Australia. All products are inspected by a USDA inspector and each case has a USDA inspection stamp.”
In a separate letter to Micronesian Brokers, Kraft Heinz of Australia said it was MW Polar that issued a recall notification on Ox & Palm products distributed by MW Polar in the U.S.
“We wish to make it clear that this recall only covers products imported by MW Polar that were shipped into MW Polar’s warehouses in the U.S. All Ox & Palm products that were not imported by MW Polar — including the products you distribute — are not affected by this issue and can be sold to consumers in your jurisdiction as before.
“Most importantly, we would like to assure you that Ox & Palm products are safe to consume and have been produced in Australia to the highest Kraft Heinz Food Safety Standards.”
According to Kraft Heinz, “The notification by MW Polar resulted from an administrative issue where an import process requirement was overlooked. [Food Safety and Inspection Service] (a division of USDA) requires imported meat to be presented for further inspection upon import into the United States, which was not done in this case. FSIS therefore advised MW Polar to issue a voluntary recall of the products that have not been [reinspected], even though all safety, quality and other inspections in relation to export from Australia had taken place.”
“We wish to [reiterate] that Ox & Palm products are of high quality and perfectly fit for consumption,” Kraft Heinz stated. “All products that have followed the standard FSIS inspection process into the US or have been imported into other jurisdictions can be sold to consumers without concern.”
CHCC advisory
On Thursday, the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. issued a consumer advisory informing the public about corned beef products that have been recalled.
According to CHCC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Food Safety and Inspection Service announced on March 1, 2021 that Milky Way International Trading Corp., doing business as MW Polar, a Norwalk, California firm, is recalling approximately 297,715 pounds of ready-to-eat canned corned beef products that were imported and distributed in the U.S. without the benefit of FSIS import reinspection.
USDA said the recalled canned corned beef items were imported on various dates between June 6, 2020 and Jan. 21, 2021.
The product cans are labeled with various “Best Before” dates and the product cases are labeled with various shipping marks and products codes. Affected products include various styles of Ox & Palm Corned Beef in can.
To ensure consumer safety, CHCC-Environmental Health Disease Prevention inspectors conducted inspections at local wholesalers and retailers to determine if any products had the specific shipping marks and product codes.
CHCC said inspectors found that no stock or inventory (current and previous) of Ox & Palm corned beef products at retail stores or wholesalers fall within the affected product list.
For more information contact the EHDP office at 664-4870/2/3 or email its director, John Tagabuel, at john.tagabuel@dph.gov.mp
