E. coli recall by Topps after outbreak
The United States Department of Agriculture announced yesterday that Topps is recalling 331,582 pounds of frozen ground beef. The recall was announced after an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak investigation identified Topps ground beef products as the source of an E. coli outbreak.
According to the Albany Times/Union, the E. coli outbreak was discovered by the New York Department of Agriculture, which was investigating several E. coli cases among New York residents.
The agency discovered the contamination after people in Albany and Rensselaer counties got sick with a potentially deadly strain of E. coli. Officials tested the Topps hamburgers remaining in the victims' home freezers and found the same strain of the bacteria in the leftover meat as was found in one of the Albany County residents who got sick."It's the same strain that matches a multistate outbreak," Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton said.
Information about the recall, supplied by the USDA, is as follows:
Each package also bears the establishment number “Est. 9748” inside the USDA mark of inspection.The frozen ground beef products were produced on June 22, July 12 or July 23 and were distributed to food service institutions in the New York metropolitan area and to retail establishments nationwide.
An investigation into a cluster of illnesses in the Northeast region carried out by the New York State Department of Health in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led to a positive product sample collected by the New York Department of Health.
For a list of products recalled, view the USDA recall release.
A previous Topps / Price Chopper E. coli outbreak:
In August, 2005, an eight-year-old Albany, New York girl became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection after eating a hamburger purchased from Price Chopper. The ground beef used in the hamburger had been supplied to Price Chopper by Topps Meats. Marler Clark filed an E. coli lawsuit on behalf of the girl, who developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome secondary to an E. coli infection.
