H-E-B Grocery Co. issued a voluntary recall in all 300 stores on several meat products because of foreign material found in meat last week.
A company news release does not specify the foreign material found but said the company issued a precautionary recall of several beef market items in stores for possible presence of foreign material.
"H-E-B is committed to the highest standards of food safety for our customers," Winell Herron, group vice president of public affairs, said in a statement. "We take every precaution necessary to ensure the integrity and quality of the products sold in our stores."
However, according to a release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, H-E-B meat processing employees found metal shavings in products on June 10. All products from the June 10-11 date were destroyed.
The release said that an investigation done by H-E-B showed the fragments came from a failed bearing in auger machinery. On June 27, a customer reported finding metal in one of the products produced on June 9 an a in-store sampling.
H-E-B nor FSIS have received any reports of illnesses because of consumption of these products.
Some of the items recalled included beef market stew in Stryofoam trays with sell dates from June, H-E-B and Hill Country Fare branded vacuum sealed packages seasoned beef with sell dates of July 4-5.
Once stores receive the call from headquarters to recall products, stores have 30 minutes to an hour to remove all products. H-E-B Grocery in Cleburne removed all products from shelves on Friday while H-E-B in Burleson reported they didn't have to remove any meat from their stock.
On Monday, shoppers were surprised to hear about the recall but said they would continue to shop at H-E-B.
"I mean it's pretty disgusting but until it happens to me I'll continue to shop here," Grandview resident Tephanie Cordell said. "The prices here are better than anywhere else."
Getting the weekly grocery shopping out of the way, Cleburne resident Jimmy Miller said he believes H-E-B did their due diligence and fixed the issue.
"I don't think they were directly responsible," Miller said. "I know they get their products from other companies and sometimes it's out of their hands. But they did the right thing and recalled the products before anyone got hurt."
For avid H-E-B shoppers Fatima and Pedro Rodriguez, they said they wished they would have known about the recall.
"It's good they took it back but it's possible some customers have already bought the meat," Pedro Rodriguez. "They need to know that it's possible that their meat is contaminated. We'll continue to shop here but better outreach would be good."
