A recall was ordered after the diced meat was accidently shipped - despite US Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) instructions that the product be detained over fears it was contaminated with foreign materials.
RSW Distributors, based in North Carolina, is recalling approximately 3,104 pounds of beef manufactured by Culinary Standards, said the FSIS statement.
Products subject to the recall were shipped to institutions for further distribution to schools in South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.
The FSIS, which is part of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the distributor, have received no complaints or reports of illness or injury in relation to the product, the statement added.
“The problem occurred as a result of a conveyor belt being damaged during production. FSIS determined that the products produced may have contained small pieces of the belt and that those products were detained per FSIS instructions but inadvertently shipped into commerce later,” the FSIS statement added.