In May, an article in the beef industry trade publication Drovers called attention to findings in the most recent national beef quality audit, conducted in 2022 and analyzed in 2023. The audit is conducted by the BQA every five years, Justice said.
Among the findings in the audit, 100 percent of the audited slaughter facilities — none of which were in Arkansas — identified buckshot, birdshot or other metallic foreign objects present in beef from cows and bulls, Justice said.
“From that, 50 percent of those plants reported customer complaints from a further processing plant,” she said, referencing locations that, for example, process beef into hamburger patties for restaurant chains.
“I was in the room at the national BQA coordinators’ meeting last summer when this came to light,” Justice said. “There wasn’t an area of the country we could blame this on. It wasn’t seasonality, so we can’t blame the hunters. But it’s obviously an issue.
Source : uada.edu