What's that blue hard thing in the meat? 35,000 pounds of ground beef recalled

No matter the type or leanness of ground beef, nothing about it should be hard, blue or plastic-like. That's why the latest not-food-in-your-food recall comes from JBS USA, which recalled 35,464 pounds of raw ground beef products on Wedneday night.

A customer found pieces of hard, blue plastic in one of the products, according to the USDA recall notice. So, out of concern there might be more beef firmed up with plastic, North Carolina-based JBS issued a recall that touched several brands.

Because the beef was produced on March 22 with a sell-by date of April 9, the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service "is concerned that some product may be frozen and in consumers’ freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase."

Those beef packs are:

▪ Kroger's store brand, 3-pound packs of 73 percent lean ground beef or 80 percent lean ground beef and 1-pound packs of 80 percent lean; 85 percent lean; 90 percent lean; or 93 percent lean.

▪ Private Selection Angus beef, 1-pound packs of 80 percent lean and 90 percent lean.

All Natural Laura's Lean Beef, 1-pound packs of 92 percent lean and 96 percent lean.

▪ JBS Ground Beef Angus Chuck, 80 percent lean, 15-pound service cases.

▪ Ground Beef Angus Sirloin, 90 percent lean, 15-pound service cases.

Anyone with questions may contact Cheri Schneider, director of external communications at JBS, at 970-506-7717.

This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 7:12 AM with the headline "What's that blue hard thing in the meat? 35,000 pounds of ground beef recalled."