A company has recalled a popular pork jerky product after multiple consumers reported finding pieces of metal in bags of the ready-to-eat snack.
LSI, Inc. located in Alpena, South Dakota voluntarily recalled the product after receiving complaints from consumers who found pieces of wiry metal in the snacks. A company-led investigation determined that the metal came from a conveyor belt used in the production facility.
The affected products are 14.5oz and 16oz pouches of jerky called “GOLDEN ISLAND fire-grilled PORK JERKY, Korean BARBECUE recipe” and were available for purchase at Sam’s Club and Costco locations across the U.S. Pictures of the affected products can be found on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety (USDA) website here. The affected products have a best by date between October 23rd 2025 and September 23rd 2026 and contain number M279A inside the USDA mark of inspection.
In an announcement, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service expressed concern that the product may be in some consumer pantries and stated “consumers who have purchased this product are urged not to consume it,” advising that the product should be disposed of or returned to the point of purchase. The USDA further stressed that so far, no injuries have been reported due to the contamination.
Metal contamination of food products can occur due to human error on the production line, or from machinery and components breaking down.
Companies often use testing equipment such as X-rays to try and detect any metal shard contamination before contaminated products reach consumers, but this does not always work and contaminated products not infrequently reach the consumer.
This year already reports of metal fragments have been responsible for the recall of 1,000 pounds of cooked, frozen ground beef in July, 30,000 pounds of beef and turkey sticks in March and 25,000 pounds of frozen taquitos in January.