People who bought certain organic meat products from a distributor in North Vancouver are being warned by health inspectors to get rid of it, after they turned up potential health risks in the processing plant where the products are made.
The meat recall, issued Monday, covers meat products made by Chilcotin Harvest in Williams Lake and sold under the label Pasture to Plate at Ethical Kitchen in North Vancouver.
The meat products werent made in accordance with proper food safety standards, said Lynn Wilcott, acting program director for food protection services with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control that issued the recall. That could include not ensuring products were at proper temperatures during critical processing steps or not keeping proper records of that, he said.
Inspectors were concerned the lack of controls could allow either botulism or E. coli to grow in the products.
Wilcott said the volume of the meat products is small, and no illnesses have been reported. The recall was issued as a precautionary safety measure, he said.
Since inspectors identified the problems, the processor has stopped distributing the products and is co-operating fully with provincial inspectors. Wilcott said stores like Ethical Kitchen have also pulled the products from their shelves.
Because the products have no dates or lot numbers, Wilcott said anyone with the meat products affected by the recall in their fridge or freezer should discard them.
The recall includes beef jerky, bratwurst, cervelat, bresaola, buendnerfleisch, corned beef, organic beef jager, meatloaf, pepperoni, weiners, bacon, ham, coppa, prosciutto, sausage and liverwurst.
Wilcott said the manufacturer is working with health inspectors to resolve the problems.
Ethical Kitchen could not be reached for comment.
jseyd@nsnews.com
