Harris Ranch Says Lab Results Find Salt, Not Glass in Ground Beef Sold in Grocery Outlet

A scare involving Harris Ranch beef may be unfounded. Harris Ranch spokesperson Brad Caudill said on Thursday that according to preliminary investigation, the foreign object claimed to be glass found in a package of ground beef, is simply rock salt.

A couple in the Bay Area city of Oakley claimed on Tuesday that they found what looked like small glass shards in the 5 lb. Harris Ranch ground beef tube they purchased at a Grocery Outlet. Harris Ranch said it believes Mike Pouard and his wife mixed in some kind of seasoning in the ground beef, and mistook the salt for glass.

We reached out to Pouard, and he declined an interview.

Harris Ranch exclusively produces 5 lb. ground beef tubes for sale at Grocery Outlet stores across the country. Since Tuesday’s accusation, Grocery Outlet removed all of the product from its stores.

Grocery Outlet VP of Marketing, Melissa Porter, said the market is still going to wait for a full lab report, but, they’re "relieved" to hear the results of Harris Ranch’s preliminary investigation. Porter has said there is no reason to not believe their customer.

Caudill said the past two days have cost the company “a lot of money”. Caudill said he believed this incident is isolated and said if consumers have the product in their freezer, he believes it is safe to consume.