Navy Butcher Shop Irregularities Found

A recent Navy investigation has concluded that butchers at Miramar Naval Air Station ground discolored and day-old meat into hamburger and sold it as fresh meat, but investigators found no contaminated or rotten meat or poultry being sold at the base commissary.

Rep. Bill Nichols (D-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on investigations, said the investigation “fully or partly substantiated” 8 of the 16 allegations of improprieties made last fall by a civilian meat cutter at the commissary’s butcher shop. The letter was sent to Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego).

A seven-member Navy investigative team spent five days at the Miramar commissary in November, conducting 75 interviews with meat department employees. In addition, a staff member of the House subcommittee was assigned to monitor, coordinate and review the Navy’s investigation.

The allegations partially confirmed by the investigation included:

- Selling thawed spareribs as fresh meat without signs or labels to notify the customer that the product had been frozen.

- Selling ground beef that exceeded the fat content indicated on the label.

- Grinding “discolored, reworked meat” and “hamburger left over from the prior day’s sales” into hamburger to be sold for the current day’s sale.

The letter said: “The investigation did identify a general lack of understanding by employees as to what constituted a wholesome product and what are the acceptable procedures concerning the general processing of meat products.”

According to the letter, the Navy’s report contains 19 recommendations to improve conditions at Miramar’s butcher shop, which include directing the Navy itself to take “a critical macro review of policies and procedures” that govern its commissaries.

Although Navy officials in San Diego had not received a copy of the report Wednesday, Capt. Ralph Harmes, the officer in charge of San Diego commissaries, said, “The commissary did not sell tainted or unwholesome meat and this was substantiated in the investigation. We are ready to implement any directives from higher authorities.”

Bates, who originally asked the subcommittee to check into the allegations, said, “I feel vindicated by the report.”

“This is a borderline case,” Bates said. “They weren’t blatantly selling rotten meat . . . but there was the potential for a bigger problem.”