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Hi,

This is a summary to my earlier post regarding others' experiences with
undisclosed additives in WalMart's fresh beef and pork. I received 10
responses to my earlier post. Four people said they'd had similar
experiences in other parts of the U.S. Of these four, one said she got
sick eating the fresh pork. One said she called the company that
supplies the meat (Thomas E. Wilson) and was told by their customer
service representative that the added solution is salt and water -
nothing else. One said she simply quit buying the meat, and the fourth
person had seen meat additives in a non-WalMart store, called their
customer service representative and was told it was not safe for
celiacs. One respondent also mentioned that IBP supplies the meat to
WalMart. They had not been helpful in responding to inquiries, and
appeared to be in the process of merging with Tyson.

One respondent said that WalMart's British subsidiary, ASDA, does a
wonderful job of labeling their brand products as gluten free and they
have many foods to choose from. This respondent suggested we ask why our
U.S. WalMart can't provide the same service.

Two respondents simply expressed frustration over the situation and
another respondent, a WalMart employee, suggested I contact the WalMart
customer service department at 1-800-WALMART. This last respondent
expressed satisfaction with previous calls to this number. Because of
this respondent's response, I decided to give another try at contacting
the national WalMart number. When I called and explained that previous
calls had been unproductive in learning the ingredients in my local
WalMart's fresh beef and pork, the customer service representative said
that they did not know what was in the local stores and she would follow
up on my call by contacting the local store. Shortly thereafter, I
received a phone message from the same man who had called me previously,
a representative from the Thomas E. Wilson meat company. The message
left on my answering machine said that he was very sorry that he had not
followed up on my previous calls. He had been out of the office and in
meetings. He said that he was contacting their attorney to make sure
that they were listing everything that was legally required and he would
call me back the following Monday. I have not heard back from him and
it's been a week. This is consistent with my previous experiences. The
first call I made was returned by my local WalMart manager, who assured
me there was nothing in the meat that would cause anyone any problem.
Because this did not sound reasonable to me, I asked for a written
response from the company (or I might have asked for a list of the
ingredients - I can't remember exactly). The local manager then
contacted the representative from Thomas E. Wilson and when I did not
receive a response, I again contacted the local store.  I was assured
that the representative from Thomas E. Wilson would definitely contact
me. To make a long story at least a little bit shorter, I did receive a
call telling me that the information would be immediately forthcoming. A
couple of months have now passed and I'm still in the dark.

I don't know if I'll pursue this any more or not. At one point in this
whole process, I contacted the Food and Drug Administration to see what
was required. The man I spoke to said that it is required that all the
ingredients be listed on the box which is received by WalMart (except
for flavorings and spices which don't have to be individually listed).
When I asked him what my alternative was if I didn't get any help from
WalMart or the meat supplier, he said I could try contacting the State
Health Department. We'll see. I'm getting tired of the process.
Barbara in OK