Grocery Outlet Pulls Ground Beef Packages After Customer Finds Glass Pieces Inside

UPDATE: Harris Ranch, Grocery Outlet test meat, confirm crystals were coarse salt.
OAKLEY (KPIX 5) -- A grocery chain is pulling ground beef packages from its shelves after a customer reported finding pieces of glass inside the meat.

Mike Pouard says he bought the Harris Ranch five-pound, pre-packaged ground beef Thursday from a Grocery Outlet in Oakley.

"We pulled out probably about 20 pieces within 30 seconds," said Pouard.

When his wife was making a meatloaf dinner on Monday, Pouard said she found the glass as she was mixing the meat with seasoning and eggs.

The glass pieces looked like beads and all appeared to all be about the same size, consistent with going through a meat grinder.

While most were smooth Pouard said he did find a couple of sharp pieces and one actually cut his hand.

Not all the shoppers we spoke to were convinced, with some saying the story reminded them of the woman and her 'chili finger' hoax.

But Pouard said he was not interested in a payout or a lawsuit, but in simply alerting the company so that other families wouldn't find the same situation.

"We gotta let them know exactly what's going on," said Pouard. "I mean, I went down there and it was right about closing time, and the manager came out and we showed him everything and he was like, 'Aw, crap!' and immediately had two people go to the back of the store with a shopping cart and pull the meat off the shelf just to be safe.

A Grocery Outlet spokeswoman said the company had no reason not to believe Pouard's story. "We believe him," said Melissa Porter. "He sounded like he was concerned about the community."

Porter said Grocery Outlet was working with the meat supplier Harris Ranch to investigate the claim, and in the meantime has pulled all its five-pound, pre-packaged ground beef from all 220 stores nationwide.

Harris Ranch said it would have an independent lab test the meat to verify the claim, and that it does not allow any glass in its meat processing facility.

UPDATE:

Harris Ranch, Grocery Outlet test meat, confirm crystals were coarse salt.