What in heaven's name has happened to corned beef--the ubiquitous regular ole corned beef that comes in that odd shaped can with a key on the side to open it (and never works well doing that.)

A few months ago I bought a four pack of Hormel corned beef at Sam's Club. It is really good heated in a skillet with BBQ sauce--makes good sandwiches in a hurry. But ever since then, you can't find corned beef in a can for love or money. None. Zilch. Nada. Sam's, Walmart, Greer's, Wayne Lee's, none of the purveyors of comestibles in my territory have it. And I hear it's gone up to $4.00 a can--if you can find it.

Corned beef used to be one of those things, like a can of tuna, where you go into any store and expect to find it on the shelf. No more. It's imported from Brazil or somewhere and I heard a rumor that it went off the American market because of bad relations between our country and theirs, and a rumor that someone found metal filing in a can that's why it's gone now. I don't believe either of those things, but I do know it ain't to be had around here for some reason.

susil