Pork recalled; could have metal chip embedded

Saturday, September 18th 2004, 10:42 am

By: News On 6

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) _ More than a thousand pounds of pork processed at a Sioux Center meatpacking plant was recalled Saturday because a microchip could be embedded in the meat.

The Sioux-Preme Packing Co. recalled 110 pork shoulder butts _ about 1,100 pounds of meat _ that could contain the metal devices used to measure scientific data in hogs.

The animals, processed Sept. 10, were part of a research herd that had been sent to slaughter without the proper notification that they had the chips implanted, said Sioux-Preme Vice President Jim Malek.

``These hogs had gotten into the delivery at our harvest plant in Sioux Center without any notification or declaration that they carried this device,'' he said.

The meat had been sent to processors in Colorado, Iowa and Mexico. None of the meat appeared to have reached consumers, Malek said.

Recipients were notified to return meat, which will either be reinspected and cleared for use or destroyed, Malek said.

Malek said he didn't know who had implanted the chips in the hogs but the hogs were healthy and had been cleared by the USDA inspectors for processing.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service was notified of the problem Friday and said no reports of illness associated with the meat had been received.