E. coli Blog - Surveillance & analysis on e. coli news & outbreaks

Topps Meat Company LLC, of Elizabeth, NJ, has voluntarily expanded its recall announced on September 25 to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. This represents all products produced by Topps with a "sell by date" or "best if used by date" that falls between September 25, 2007 and September 25, 2008.

This information may be found on the back panel of the package. All recalled products will have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and/or in the USDA legend.  So far nearly 30 people had been confirmed ill in at least 8 states.

This recall tops the Con Agra recall of 19,000,000 pounds in 2002 that sickened over forty and killed one and is just under the 25,000,000 pounds recalled by now-bankrupt Hudson Foods in 1997.  Here are a few examples of E. coli illnesses and outbreaks occurring in 2007:

1. At least thirteen people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating ground beef produced by United Food Group sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and Montana. Over 5,700,000 pound of meat were recalled.

2. Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. recalled 40,440 pounds of ground beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7. No illnesses yet reported.
3. Seven Minnesotans were confirmed as part of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that prompted PM Beef Holdings to recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products that was ground and sold at Lunds and Byerly’s stores.
4. Twenty-seven people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Fresno County. The Fresno County Department of Community Health inspected the “Meat Market” in Northwest Fresno, the source of the outbreak.
5. At least two people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Michigan after eating ground beef produced by Davis Creek Meats and Seafood of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The E. coli outbreak prompted Davis Creek Meats and Seafood to recall approximately 129,000 pounds of beef products that were distributed in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
6. Following reports of three Napa Valley children who became sick from hamburger patties sold at a St. Helena Little League snack shack, 100,000 pounds of hamburger (that was a year old) was recalled.
7. Several people were confirmed ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections in Pennsylvania after eating E. coli-contaminated meat products at Hoss’s Family Steak and Sea Restaurants, a Pennsylvania-based restaurant chain that purchased its meat from HFX, Inc., of South Claysburg, Pennsylvania. As a result of the outbreak, HFX recalled approximately 4,900 pounds of meat products.


A Topps Meats, of Elizabeth, New Jersey press release reported that at least 21 people in eight states could be part of an E. coli outbreak that has been traced back to consumption of ground beef products produced by their company.  The CDC has confirmed three cases linked to Topps, and is waiting on lab testing for confirmation of an additional 18 cases, according to the Associated Press.

Health officials found contaminated burgers in one New York victim's home freezer.  The boxes recalled carry the number "Est. 9748" inside the USDA mark and were produced on June 22, July 12 or July 23.



The recalled products include certain 10-pound boxes of Butcher's Best 100% All Beef Patties; certain 10-pound boxes of Kohler Foods burgers; certain 10-pound boxes of Sand Castle Fine Meat; some 2-pound boxes of Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers; and some 3-pound boxes of Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers.

A six-year-old first grade student at Galena Elementary School in Indiana has been hospitalized with kidney failure after she developed hemolytic uremic syndrome following an E. coli infection, according to WLKY news. 

The child is one of six students at the school who have been confirmed as suffering E. coli infections, with five cases unconfirmed but possibly linked to the outbreak.  The state health department has joined the outbreak investigation, and is sending three additional investigators to help determine the source of the outbreak.  The school has been thoroughly cleaned but parents are still concerned about the safety of their kids.



State Health Officials said they are sending three more specialists to Floyd County to help track down the source of an E. coli infection.  Two food specialists and a second epidemiologist are scheduled to inspect the school Tuesday.

 

USA Today featured a detailed timeline of last year's spinach outbreak - from the first death to the discovery that spinach was the source of the outbreak to the fifth death and how the spinach industry and federal investigators and regulators responded during the crises and beyond. 

Marler Clark client Jillian Kohl stated in the article:  "By the time I am 40 to 45 years old, I could be laying in a bed hooked up to dialysis machines again. I know death is inevitable, but sometimes it feels like quite a load to carry, knowing a rough timeline has potentially been put on my life."

 

Dole Fresh Vegetables president Eric Schwartz has confirmed that the romaine and green leaf lettuce in its Hearts Delight salad mix was produced locally in the Salinas Valley and mixed with butter lettuce from Ohio and romaine from growers in Colorado.

The lettuces were processed at Dole's plant in Springfield, Ohio, on Sept. 6, said Schwartz. Eighty-eight cases — or 528 bags — were distributed in Canada and 755 cases containing 4,530 bags in the U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Dole Food Co, the parent company of Dole Fresh Vegetables, issued a voluntary recall Monday, one day after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued its own advisory in Canada.

Dole did confirm that the lettuce products had been shipped to several provinces in Canada as well as to Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.