Grocery Outlet Pulls Ground Beef After Glass Claim

Grocery Outlet is pulling packages of ground beef off the shelves after a customer reported finding glass inside the meat.

The company confirmed today it is removing all Harris Ranch 5 lb ground beef rolls from all 221 stores until an investigation into the claims are complete.

Here is Grocery Outlet’s full statement:

On May 19, 2015 a customer returned some ground beef to our Oakley Grocery Outlet store with the claim that it contained shards of broken glass. Grocery Outlet Inc. does not package the products it sells. Since all items are purchased packaged and ready-to-sell, our practice is to refer these types of issues to the product manufacturer.

In this case, the customer returned the product without packing or a cash register receipt. They stated that they purchased a 5-lb roll of ground beef at our store, and since Harris Ranch Beef Company is the sole supplier of ground beef to that store, we contacted them. Harris Ranch representatives picked up the product from the store for testing by a third party.

In an abundance of caution, Grocery Outlet has removed all Harris Ranch 5-lb Ground Beef rolls from its 221 stores until Harris Ranch has completed its investigation.

Grocery Outlet Inc. takes its safety obligation to its customers very seriously and goes to great lengths to ensure that our suppliers are of the highest integrity and that the products offered in our stores are of excellent quality. All Grocery Outlet meat suppliers process and package their products under strict government supervision.

Harris Ranch Beef Company has been a partner of Grocery Outlet for many years. We choose to work with them because of the superior quality of their beef and because of their quality control programs are second to none in the industry.