Meat In The Heat? Pick-Up Truck Spotted Carrying Full Cargo Of Packaged Meats

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A red Toyota Tacoma truck with a restaurant advertisement on its side was seen Tuesday afternoon transporting a large quantity of packaged meats in its cargo bed.

A CBS4 viewer, who did not want to be identified, sent us photos of the truck and its cargo and said it was clear to see the meat was not refrigerated.

Also, "It was hot as hell," he said. Tuesday afternoon temperatures in South Florida reached near 90 degrees.

He said the truck was heading northbound at around 1:30 p.m. on 183 Street and Northwest 27 Avenue in Miami Gardens.

One of the photos shows Mofongo House Restaurant as the name of the restaurant advertised on the side of the truck.

The restaurant is in the 7100 block of Pembroke Road in Pembroke Pines.

We reached out to the restaurant and spoke to the restaurant manager, Freddy Encarnacion.

He told us the meat was frozen and that he had just bought it at the Restaurant Depot near State Road 826 in Miami.

Encarnacion said he usually has the meat transported to his restaurant, but that this had been an emergency.

He said there were bags of ice on the bed of the truck during the transport, which he said took him about 20 minutes.

We contacted the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Division and are waiting to hear back from them regarding any guidelines they may have on commercial transportation of meat.