15,000 pounds beef sticks recalled by Walmart retailer: Presence of cheese and allergens feared

On January 8, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that around 14,976 pounds of beef sticks from Abbyland Foods Inc. had allergens in them. The Wisconsin-based company will now recall its Iowa Smokehouse Original Smoked Beef Sticks from all major US retailers, including Walmart.

According to FSIS, Abbyland Foods Inc. failed to declare the presence of milk in its product label. The presence of allergens like milk might cause their meat to cause an abnormal immune system response in children with the allergy.

A statement from FSIS reads:

“The problem was discovered after the firm received consumer complaints of cheese in the product and reported the event to FSIS. There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.”

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When was the presence of milk in Abbyland Foods Inc.’s beef sticks found?

As per reports, Abbyland Foods found milk in their smoked beef sticks after the food processing firm received multiple complaints from consumers about the formation of cheese in the meat.

The FSIS was alerted about the issue by Abbyland Foods. Following this, the government agency has prompted the consumers to throw away the product or return it to the retailers who sold them.

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Possible reasons for the presence of milk in the product

Abbyland Foods' Cheesy Beef sticks (Image via Abbyland Foods Inc.)

Abbyland Foods Inc. has not yet disclosed the cause of the misbranding of their beef sticks or the presence of milk in them. However, it is plausible that the batch was simply mispackaged by the manufacturer, which sells multiple flavors of their smoked beef sticks.

It is possible that the batch was meant to be packaged as "Cheesy one" and was mislabeled as ‘Smoked Beef Original.’

Note: The aforementioned potential reasons are speculative and should not be perceived as confirmatory.

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While Abbyland Foods did not specifically mention it, all packs of their Iowa Smokehouse Original Smoked Beef Sticks produced between November 15 and November 17, 2021, are being recalled. This is not the first incident of beef sticks being recalled, over the years several US firms have had to recall their products for misbranding the labels.

As there has not been any serious allergic reaction in consumers, there will likely be very few legal repercussions for the firm. However, dairy allergies in children could have caused abdominal pain, vomiting, hives, and rashes.