KINGSTON, Jamaica — GraceKennedy Limited says a team from Grace Foods is making an “urgent” trip to Brazil to meet with their suppliers and do further investigations in a light of a directive from the Government to suspend the sale of corned beef originating from that country

Meanwhile, the food-distribution company in a statement today confirmed its full compliance with the directive from the government.

“We stand ready to lend full support to the local regulators in resolving this issue as quickly as possible,” the company said, adding that it wished to assure their consumers that their health and safety are of primary importance and their strict product quality control measures have served to mitigate against any food safety risks associated with corned beef imported into the Jamaican market.

The company said it has consistently required that its suppliers conform to internationally recognised food safety standards including the British Retail Consortium Standard (BRC).

It said that this BRC is used by leading manufacturers across the world and sets out strict requirements as it relates to manufacturing, food safety and quality control systems. GraceKennedy said that its corned beef suppliers in Brazil have consistently qualified for and retained the BRC standard.

The company further stated that they have been advised by their overseas companies that shipments of corned beef from Brazil will continue into Canada and the USA with no regulatory changes at this time.

“Those countries will continue to implement sampling at their borders, as they have been doing since 2010.”

The company said it has been working proactively with retailers to pull the product from the shelves in the Jamaican market and will be issuing further advisories.