On July 19, a customer at Costco in Yeongdeungpo, South Korea, discovered a shocking surprise while preparing beef for bulgogi: a hard, foreign object embedded in the meat. Upon closer inspection, the object turned out to be two small metal fragments, each slightly smaller than a grain of rice.
These fragments were later identified as lead pellets from a shotgun, suggesting that shotgun ammunition had somehow ended up in the beef sold at this South Korean supermarket.
A Korean company specializing in meat imports imported the beef from a Kansas farm. Costco then portioned this meat for bulgogi.
The company claims it filters out foreign substances using metal detectors for the raw meat it sells. However, the bulk meat supplied to Costco bypassed any separate metal detection procedures, allowing the contaminated beef to be sold.
After the discovery, Costco’s response was notably subdued. The company collected the lead fragment but did not provide any substantial explanation for over a week. It wasn’t until the customer reached out that Costco acknowledged the fragment might be a shotgun shell.
The customer reported that Costco initially deflected responsibility, directing them to contact the importer. When concerns were raised about the possibility of contaminated meat being sold to other customers, Costco’s response was dismissive: “What can we do about it?”
When approached by the media, Costco declined to comment further, stating, “Operational issues should be addressed directly by the customer.”
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