Screen Shot 2015-06-12 at 9.48.03 PMLarry’s Custom Meats Inc., a Hartwick, N.Y. establishment, is recalling approximately 529 pounds of beef tongue products that may have been shipped with lingual tonsils still attached, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The beef tongue items were produced on various dates between October 23, 2014 and June 12, 2015. The following products are subject to recall:

1 ½ lb. packages of “Larry’s Custom Meats Inc. Beef Tongue.”
The products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 40359” inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items produced were shipped to retail locations in New York and Pennsylvania.

The problem was discovered during in-plant verification activities. Lingual tonsil, located at the back of the base of the tongue, is a small mound of lymphatic tissue which is considered specified risk materials (SRMs) and must be removed from cattle in accordance with FSIS regulations. SRMs are tissues that may contain the infective agent in cattle infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), as well as materials that are closely associated with these potentially infective tissues. Therefore, FSIS prohibits SRMs from use as human food to minimize potential human exposure to the BSE agent.

FSIS and the company have received no reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.