Mass Beef Recall As 'Wire-Like Metal' Found in Meat Product Sold to Schools

Nearly half a ton of frozen beef pastries have been recalled over fears they may contain "thin, wire-like metal," including some which have been distributed to schools in Minnesota, federal authorities have said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) announced on Friday that Hoyo SBC—a food production company based in Bloomington, Minnesota—was recalling 1,046 pounds of its pre-made beef sambusas that "may be contaminated with extraneous material."

The FSIS said that the alert had been raised after someone handling food in a school had found metal wire on the outside of one of the products while preparing it, but not embedded in it. The agency stressed there had been no reports of ill health, but urged schools not to serve the product.

Metal fragments can pose a health hazard to those ingesting food with them in, including abscesses and perforations of the internal organs. They can enter the food supply at any phase, including from food preparation equipment including wire brushes used to clean grills and cooking appliances.

Sambusas recall
Sambusas displayed at a snack shop in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on April 12, 2022 (L) and (R) a label from a package of the products being recalled over potential contamination with "thin, wire-like metal." MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images/FSIS

A 2016 academic study of data on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System found that between 2002 and 2014, there were an estimated 1,698 visits to emergency rooms nationwide due to wire bristle injuries.

The sambusas—a traditional Somalian triangular pastry, akin to a samosa—being recalled were produced between December 30 and February 21, FSIS said, and are only those in bulk boxes of 75 with lot codes N341-S and N333-S.

"FSIS is concerned that some product may be in school freezers," the agency stated. "Schools are urged not to serve this product. This product should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase."

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions, but FSIS told anyone concerned about injury or illness to seek medical help.

It added: "While the product was distributed to schools, it was through a commercial sale and was not part of the food provided by the USDA for the National School Lunch Program."

Hoyo, the Somali word for mother, is a catering business that hires Somali women to "share a piece of their culture with the Twin Cities community," its website states. Its products are sold across five states in the great lakes region.

In a statement, the company said the recall "was limited to two schools," adding: "We are committed to providing safe and quality products and are taking steps to correct our mistakes."

Luke Snider, Hoyo's director of operations, told Newsweek: "We are saddened this occurred and are taking the steps needed to prevent any such incident in the future. We are also taking action now to recall any possibly affected product."

In its 2019 hazard analysis methodology, the FSIS cites historical incidents in which metal contamination occurred when processing ground beef in its recommendation that food preparation equipment be maintained and that food producers use a metal detector on their products. It adds that hard and sharp objects less than 7 millimeters could still pose a health risk for children.

"We have identified the source of the foreign material and we have removed it from our production process," Snider said, adding that the company had not used a metal detector in its process to date, but was "considering" using one in future.

While the potential metal contamination was spotted before the sambusas were given to schoolchildren, according to FSIS, there have been cases of ingested metal wires leading to serious health conditions.

In February, a pediatrics doctor who goes by the name Dr. Beachgem online, told her 1.2 million TikTok followers about a particular case in which a patient of hers, a four-year-old boy, complained of acute ear pain and had a fever after eating at a barbeque.

In the viral video, liked 5 million times and shared by more than half a million, she said it took 10 days of tests to discover a 2-centimeter wire lodged in the soft tissue near the boy's tonsil, which had begun to develop an abscess around it.

The doctor said the metal wire, from a grill brush, had been removed and the boy had made a full recovery but warned: "Do not use grill brushes with metal wires. There's not only the risk that it can get lodged in the soft tissue in your throat, but they can also cause bowel obstructions and perforations in the abdomen if accidentally swallowed."

Update 03/22/23, 3:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from Luke Snider of Hoyo.

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Aleks Phillips is a Newsweek U.S. News Reporter based in London. His focus is on U.S. politics and the environment. ... Read more

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