The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) is urging USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to address the issue of clenbuterol sickening 54 people in Mexico.
“USCA is recommending increased inspections on beef and cattle imported from Mexico until confidence is restored,” Dr. Brooke Miller, president of USCA, wrote.
“Allowing contaminated meat into our borders is unacceptable for a nation that prides itself on producing the highest quality, most sustainable, and safest beef in the world. We ask that APHIS and FSIS seriously evaluate the public health risks associated with importing beef and meat from Mexico, including conducting an equivalence verification to ensure that Mexico is still maintaining a regulatory food safety inspection system that is on par with the United States’.”
A total of 54 people were affected by meat contaminated with clenbuterol. Testing 106 samples from different sale points revealed 52 samples tested positive for having residues above the 0.2 micrograms per kilogram for beef muscle limit established by the Codex Alimentarius.
