Someone printed a fake USDA inspection number on 167,639 pounds of pork, beef and goat, and it reached stores and restaurants nationwide before anyone caught it.
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Star Meat Delivery in Lucama, North Carolina issued the recall September 23. It covers raw pork, beef and goat produced on various dates before September 22, and none of it went through federal inspection at any point. USDA is treating everything the company shipped as suspect.
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The packages carried EST. 1363. Every legitimate plant in the country has an establishment number tied to a federal grant of inspection, and that one was never issued. You can check any number yourself in USDA's Meat, Poultry and Egg Product Inspection Directory, which updates weekly.
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The meat went from North Carolina to A&D Foods, a distributor in Georgia, and from there to retail and restaurant locations nationwide. Nobody between the plant and the plate questioned the stamp, which is the part that should worry people more than the poundage.
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USDA rated this Class I, its highest category, meaning there's a reasonable probability of serious health consequences or death. Inspection is what verifies slaughter conditions, sanitation and label accuracy. Skipping it is why salmonella, E. coli and yersinia are the named risks here.
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Faking an inspection mark is a federal crime under the Meat Inspection Act, but the penalties haven't been updated in decades. Baseline is up to a year in prison or a $1,000 fine. With intent to defraud it rises to three years or $10,000, which is pocket change against 83 tons of product.
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No illnesses have been reported, and USDA found it during routine surveillance rather than tracing an outbreak backward. The recall reaches everything from ribeye and oxtail to chorizo, pork feet and menudo mix, so check labels for EST. 1363 before you cook anything from a smaller distributor. 7/8
Sources: 8/8
fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts…
fsis.usda.gov/inspection/est…
foodsafetynews.com/2026/09/more-t…
contagionlive.com/view/us-compan…
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21…
fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts…
fsis.usda.gov/inspection/est…
foodsafetynews.com/2026/09/more-t…
contagionlive.com/view/us-compan…
law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21…
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Replies
We could argue about the value of these stamps, it is a way of controlling who can and cannot sell meat, always cutting out the small guys!