Hold the bacon.
Over 12,000 pounds of the pork product from Canada have been recalled after federal regulators slapped it with their highest-risk alert.
The US Department of Agriculture issued the recall affecting product from Maple Leaf Foods of Mississauga, Ontario, on grounds it never underwent “import reinspection into the United States.”
The recall was designated “Class I,” the USDA’s most grave category.
The Canadian importer’s Illinois facility recalled 12-ounce vacuum packages of “Royale Natural Applewood Smoked uncured bacon product” and 12-ounce vacuum packages of “Top Valu uncured Hardwood Smoked bacon product,” according to the Friday advisory.
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said it discovered the violation during “routine inspection activities,” adding that there have been no reports of illnesses linked to the bacon.
The recalled product had been shipped to stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The authorities urged consumers to throw out the bacon or return it to stores.
The recall comes as President Trump’s 50% tariff on many Canadian imports – including alcohol and dairy products, as well as auto industry parts – is set to take effect Aug. 19.
It also comes amid a massive cyclospora food poisoning outbreak linked to lettuce from Mexico that has sickened more than 7,000 people in the U.S.
Earlier this month, Taylor Farms of Salinas Valley, Calif., recalled all its iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico as a result of the outbreak.
Maple Leaf did not immediately respond to calls and emails for comment about how its bacon bypassed the reinspection process for imported foods.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service typically checks the general condition of food, looking for transportation damage, temperature abuse like thawing in frozen goods, swelling in canned goods, odors and incorrect labeling.
If the agency suspects a problem, it may also send the product to a lab for testing to look for E. coli or Salmonella or test it for species fraud, ensuring that the meat is what the label claims it is.
Products that pass inspection get stamped with a USDA mark of inspection, which apparently did not occur with the bacon packages.
