Rhode Island Distributor Pleads Guilty to Selling Adulterated Meat

by Joshua Lipsky on 8/13/01 for www.meatingplace.com

Geoffrey M. Tapper, president of Cranston, R.I.-based East Coast Distributors, Inc., plead guilty in federal court to violating the Federal Meat Inspection Act by selling adulterated meat food products, according to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Tapper entered the guilty plea for the company in the U.S. District Court of Providence. East Coast Distributors faces a possible fine of up to $10,000 and up to five years probation. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10 in the U.S. District Court of Providence.

According to FSIS, in 1997, East Coast Distributors bought 497 boxes of boneless beef chunks that the company stored in a Providence warehouse where the temperature was too warm to keep the meat fresh. East Coast Distributors sold 30 boxes of the meat. After several grocers returned the meat because of spoilage, the company sold the meat again. FSIS eventually condemned all 497 boxes of beef.

The legal action brought against East Coast Distributors was the result of an investigation by FSIS officials.

So the cost for exposing 1 consumer to bad meat is only $20.12~ ? No wonder so many food companies are willing to gamble with our lives, if willfully exposing people to rotting meat is no big deal.