40 percent of NC stores still selling recalled Castleberry meats

Small store owners may not be pulling products

08/06/07

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On August 3, 2007, health inspectors reported they were still finding cans of recalled Castleberry’s Food Company meat on North Carolina store shelves. An estimated 8 percent of stores are still stocking potentially tainted food in the Triangle weeks after products were linked to botulism.

Ashley Whittington, an inspector for the Wake County Environmental Services, said the county has been asked by the Department of Agriculture to assist in getting the food off store shelves.

Castleberry’s recalled more than 90 of their products nationwide in July 2007, after four customers were diagnosed with botulism following consumption of the company’s products.

Health officials said small store owners and members of the public may not be getting the recall message because Castleberry’s sells food under a variety of brand names. Whittington and several others are reportedly going store-to-store to ensure the recalled food is pulled from shelves.

“We’re looking for independently owned, smaller restaurants and grocery stores that may not be aware of the recall,” Whittington said.

Inspectors are urging store owners to tape up recalled cans, label them “extreme health hazard” and throw them into a locked dumpster. If a store does not have a locked dumpster, store owners should throw them away the day of trash pick up.

Source: Sheyenne Rodriguez, “Recalled food remains on Triangle stores’ shelves,” Abc11tv.com, August 3, 2007.

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