E Coli Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark Law Firm : E. coli Blog

Associated Press reporter Jeff Gold's story titled, "State inspectors find more recalled meat at New Jersey stores," published on November 7, highlights the importance of the need for more effective food recalls.  According to the story, ground beef patties produced by Topps that were recalled for possible E. coli contamination in September are still on store shelves.  From the story:

"What began with the discovery of recalled hamburgers being for sale at a single store has escalated into a statewide public health issue, and potentially a national issue as well," Attorney General Milgram said. "It is unacceptable that consumers can walk into a store and find these recalled contaminated products on the shelf, readily available for purchase and consumption, more than one month after the voluntary recall was announced."

Over the past few weeks, 141 boxes of Topps burgers have been found at 12 stores, all in northern New Jersey except for one in Gloucester City in Camden County, the state Division of Consumer Affairs said.

Investigators determined that the stores bought the meat from four distributors, including Associated Group Grocers of Jamaica, N.Y.; Burris Foods Inc. of Milford, Del.; and Jetro Cash and Carry of Jersey City. They had previously identified Greater New York Frozen Food Distribution Company Inc., of Queens, N.Y.

Topps Frozen Hamburger E. coli Outbreak Background:

On September 25, 2007, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that Topps Meat Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was recalling 331,582 pounds of frozen ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The company's ground beef products had been identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak among residents of New York, Connecticut, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

At least six people in New York had become ill with E. coli infections after eating Topps Meats' ground beef, and the investigation into these illnesses by the New York Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was what led to the resulting recall.

By September 29, 2007, Topps Meats had expanded the recall to a total of 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products produced on various dates between September 25, 2006 and September 25, 2007. On October 11, 2007, the CDC announced that 38 confirmed illnesses had been tied to the outbreak in 9 states: Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

FSIS issued an outbreak update on October 26, 2007, and announced that a joint investigation between FSIS and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had identified meat trim provided to Topps by Canadian company Ranchers Beef Ltd. as the source of the outbreak.

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The Food Safety and Inspection Service, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, announced Saturday that Del-Mar Provision Co. of Buffalo, New York, was recalling 50 pounds of ground beef for possible E. coli contamination.  The contamination was discovered through routine testing.  Additional information from FSIS about the recall follows:

The product subject to recall is:

* 10-pound poly bags of "GROUND BEEF."

Each bag bears the establishment number "Est. 2759" inside the USDA mark of inspection and a date code of "296."

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) today issued a press release with an update regarding the E. coli outbreak investigation and recall of Topps brand hamburger patties.  FSIS used the update to announce that in a joint investigation between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and FSIS, investigators had determined that Ranchers Beef, a Canadian company, had supplied E. coli-contaminated beef trimmings to Topps, and that Ranchers Beef, Ltd., has been "delisted" since October 20, meaning the company has not been eligible to export meat to the United States since that date.

According to the press release:

On October 25, the CFIA provided FSIS with PFGE patterns, or DNA fingerprints, from tests of beef trim from a Canadian firm, Ranchers Beef, Ltd., Canadian establishment number 630. This firm provided trim to the Topps Meat Company. While the firm, which had been located in Balzac, Alberta, ceased operations on August 15, 2007, some product remained in storage and was collected and tested by CFIA as part of the joint investigation of the Topps recall and as part of CFIA's own investigation into 45 illnesses in Canada from E. coli O157:H7.

The press release continued:

Today, PulseNet provided verification to FSIS that this PFGE pattern matched those from patients who were ill and from positive tests conducted by the New York Department of Health on product (both intact packages and open packages from patients' homes) that was later recalled by the Topps Meat Company on September 29. PulseNet is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) searchable database of all PFGE patterns from patients and food products in the United States.

On September 29, Topps expanded an earlier recall to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products for possible E. coli contamination.  The recall was initiated after illnesses associated with the products were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, and several other states.  As of October 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified 40 illnesses under investigation as being part of the outbreak. 

Marler Clark has filed lawsuits on behalf of two people who were confirmed part of the Topps E. coli outbreak, and represents several other people in claims that are being investigated as potentially associated with the outbreak.

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SEATTLE, WA (October 1, 2007) – A lawsuit was filed today against Topps Meat Company, the meat producer whose ground beef products have been identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, and who expanded a ground beef recall to include 21.7 million pounds of meat over the weekend. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Albany County, New York, residents Robert and Catherine McDonald and their young daughter, who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized after eating a hamburger made of Topps Meats ground beef on August 17^th. The McDonald family is represented by the Seattle law firm, Marler Clark, and the upstate New York law firm Underberg & Kessler.

According to the lawsuit, the McDonalds’ daughter fell ill with symptoms of an E. coli infection, including nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, chills, and muscle aches on August 20. On August 22, she was admitted to the hospital, where she provided a stool specimen that later returned positive for E. coli O157:H7. She was released from the hospital on August 24, and continues her recovery at home. 

“We saw massive recalls and countless illnesses and deaths due to E. coli-contaminated ground beef in the 1990s,” said William Marler, attorney for the McDonald family. “Between 1993 and 2002, my clients were awarded $250 million in verdicts and settlements from the meat and restaurant industries. But in 2002, meat producers cleaned up their act. I touted the meat industry as a model for what an industry could do that was right to protect consumers.”

“Aside from sporadic cases, outbreaks traced back to meat products have been largely absent in the last five years,” Marler continued, noting that together with Underberg & Kessler Marler Clark represented another young Albany County child in a lawsuit against Topps two years ago. “2007 has been an anomaly in the meat industry, but now that outbreaks are happening, the industry needs to once again step up to the plate and compensate consumers for their injuries.”

BACKGROUND: 

Marler Clark and Underberg & Kessler have together represented hundreds of New York citizens who have become ill with food- or water-borne illnesses. The firms represented seventy victims of the Brook-Lea Country Club Salmonella outbreak in Rochester in 2002. They have also teamed up to represent a six-year-old girl from White Plains, New York, who developed HUS and nearly died after eating an E. coli-contaminated hamburger made with meat purchased from BJ’s Wholesale Club and the family of a man who died of an acute hepatitis A infection after eating at the Maple Lawn Dairy in Elmira, New York. The firms currently represent thousands of victims of the Cryptosporidium outbreak traced to contaminated water at the Seneca Lake State Park in central New York in 2005 and several victims of last year’s spinach E. coli outbreaks.

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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.

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Yesterday, an Idaho woman was added to the list of people who became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating ground beef produced by a Clackamas, Oregon meat producer and consumers were warned to check their freezers for potentially contaminated ground beef products.  Illnesses associated with the outbreak have been reported in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

This morning, Alex Pulaski of the Oregonian reported that a Bend, Oregon, resident helped Oregon health officials determine the source of her E. coli illness and establish a link to the Washington and Idaho cases. 

Amber Wark, one of the family members who had fallen ill, discovered a telling clue Saturday morning while taking it on herself to rummage through a dozen garbage bags in a trailer bed: packaging for 4 pounds of ground beef.

The wrappers led state epidemiologists, federal agricultural inspectors and Washington health authorities back to Interstate Meat Distributors Inc. in Clackamas, which had ground the meat that Wark bought July 29 at Safeway.

Marler Clark has been contacted by victims of the outbreak, and is planning to pursue legal claims on their behalf.

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The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today that Interstate Meat Dist., Inc., of Clackamas, Oregon, was recalling 41,305 pounds of ground beef products for potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination.  The recall was announced after at least eight people in Oregon and Washington became ill with E. coli infections after eating the ground beef products.  According to the FSIS recall release:

This public health alert was initiated after epidemiological investigations conducted by the State of Oregon Department of Health Services and the Washington State Department of Health determined that there is a possible link between the ground beef products and eight confirmed E. coli O157:H7 illnesses reported in Oregon and Washington.

The products subject to this public health alert include

* 16-ounce packages of "Northwest Finest 7% FAT, NATURAL GROUND BEEF." The label bears a UPC code of "752907 600127."
* 16-ounce packages of "Northwest Finest 10% FAT, Organic GROUND BEEF."

Each package also bears the establishment number "Est. 965" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a sell-by date between "08/01/07" and "08/11/07."

The ground beef labels are pictured here:

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Several reports indicate that 7 people who became ill with E. coli infections earlier this summer were infected after eating contaminated ground beef.  An article in the Buffalo News indicated that the E. coli outbreak was more widespread than Long Island and Suffolk County:

All seven patients, including an 8-year-old North Carolina girl who was hospitalized after her kidneys shut down, are recovering, Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry, the Suffolk County health commissioner, said Tuesday.

Chaudhry stressed that no specific brand of ground beef has been identified; it was purchased at various locations around Long Island. He also said the majority of those who became ill between June 9 and July 3 were believed to have eaten the beef products at local barbecues and not at restaurants.

He said federal and local health officials are continuing to investigate, but early findings suggest the E. coli contamination is not specific to Suffolk.

In a report for Newsday today, reporter  Chau Lamb wrote that the strain of E. coli isolated from individuals who became ill in this most recent outbreak were infected with the same genetic strain of E. coli that was isolated from individuals who became ill with E. coli infections months ago after eating ground beef products produced by a Michigan meat supplier.  The investigation into the latest outbreak is ongoing, and epidemiologists are working to determine whether the outbreaks are related.

From the article:

The E. coli bacteria found in a Suffolk man has the same genetic pattern as the strain found in beef products in Michigan that were recalled in May, a county health official said yesterday.

The 29-year-old man grilled frozen hamburger patties on June 6 and ate them at home, said Dr. Patricia Dillon, director of communicable diseases for Suffolk's health department. He is among seven people who became ill and tested positive for E. coli strain 0157; officials say they suspect undercooked ground beef as the culprit.

In May, The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a recall announcement after a Michigan firm recalled meat products for potential E. coli contamination.  According to a press release from FSIS, Davis Creek Meats and Seafood of Kalamazoo, Mich., is recalling approximately 129,000 pounds of beef products.  The potentially contaminated meat was shipped to Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, and was produced between March 1 and April 30.

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Safeway issued the following press release after being informed that United Food Group was expanding its recall of ground beef products:

Safeway Recalls Specific Ground Beef Products in Arizona

TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2007--Safeway is voluntarily recalling several fresh ground beef products sold at its Arizona stores because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The products have sell-by dates of April 20, 2007 through May 1, 2007.

The recall is in response to United Food Group LLC's extended recall of 370,000 pounds of ground beef. The recall has been extended to include a number of products, including the following products sold at Safeway stores:

1. Miller Ground Beef Chub 80% Lean
2. Regular Ground Beef 73% Lean
3. Regular Ground Beef 73% Lean Extreme Value
4. Lean Ground Beef 80% Lean
5. 80% Lean Ground Beef Market 20% Fat
6. Lean Ground Beef 80% Lean Extreme Value
7. Lean Ground Sirloin
8. Leanest Ground Beef 93% Lean
9. Lean Ground Sirloin Extreme Value
10. 93% Lean Ground Beef 7% Fat Extreme Value
11. 85% Lean Ground Beef 15% Fat Extreme Value
12. 80% Lean Ground Beef Market 20% Fat Extreme Value

Customers are asked to discard these products or return them to their local store for a full refund.

Customers who have questions about the recall can contact Safeway at 1-800-SAFEWAY.

CONTACT: Safeway Inc.
Nikki Daly, 480-894-4129
SOURCE: Safeway Inc.

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PM Beef Holdings expanded an E. coli recall to include 117,500 pounds of beef trimmings to make ground beef yesterday.  The original recall was initiated after an E. coli outbreak among Byerly's and Lunds customers in the Minneapolis area who had consumed ground beef products from the stores.  According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press at www.twincities.com:

The recall comes after an E. coli outbreak that has sickened seven Twin Cities residents, who purchased and ate ground beef from Byerly's or Lunds. While those stores have already removed any potentially contaminated beef from their shelves, today's move greatly expands the scope of the recall.

The beef trimmings in question were processed on March 27 at the PM Beef Holdings plant in Windom, and the USDA said it "was shipped to distributors and retail outlets" in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Virginia.

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