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

The USDA announced yesterday that Snapps Ferry Packing is recalling hamburger patties and bulk ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.  No illnesses have been reported - the problem was discovered through routine testing.  According to USDA:

The products subject to recall are:

* 4-pound packages of "GROUND BEEF PATTIES."
* Various weight bulk packages of "GROUND BEEF."

Each product subject to recall bears the establishment number "Est. 9085" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a "PACKED ON" date of "DEC.11.07" or "DEC.12.07."

E. coli O157:H7 bacteria is believed to mostly live in the intestines of cattle,[14] but has also been found in the intestines of chickens, deer, sheep, and pigs. E. coli O157:H7 does not make the animals that carry it ill; the animals are merely the reservoir for the bacteria.

Meat typically becomes contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 during the slaughtering process, when the contents of an animal's intestines and feces are allowed to come into contact with the carcass. Unless the carcass is sanitized, the E. coli bacteria are eventually mixed into the meat as it is ground. Because the bacteria is mixed into the meat during the grinding process, and is not just on the surface, thorough cooking (to160 degrees) is required to prevent E. coli O157:H7 poisoning from consumption of ground beef. Contaminated meat looks and smells normal, and although the number of organisms required to cause an infection is not known, it is suspected to be very small.

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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 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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In yesterday's New York Times, Chris Drew and Andy Martin's article, "Many Red Flags Preceded a Recall of Hamburger" detailed what is known about the Topps ground beef E. coli outbreak and recall.  The story contained the following:

Federal investigators said they had recently learned that the company failed to require adequate testing on the raw beef it bought from its domestic suppliers, and it sometimes mixed tested and untested meat in its grinding machines.

The Agriculture Department acknowledged that its safety inspectors, who were in the Topps plant for an hour or two each day, never cited the company for these problems.

Additionally, Topps, like many other beef processors, had bought an increasing amount of meat from overseas. Some types of meat from foreign countries — where E. coli has not been prevalent — are not required to be tested for contamination. But the Agriculture Department said the Topps case had prompted it to consider requiring such checks.

In response to the problems, the Agriculture Department directed its inspectors on Oct. 12 to conduct a nationwide survey of what meat plants are doing to fight E. coli., and it plans to send special assessment teams into any plants that seem to be lagging to urge them to adopt more stringent measures.

Those more stringent measures were discussed at a news conference held by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service yesterday.  In conjunction with the news conference, FSIS posted a list of new "key initiatives" for federally inspected plants that produce raw beef products.  USA Today reported on those key initiatives today, putting them in perspective of what has happened in the meat industry in the last year with regards to E. coli O157:H7:

There have been 15 E. coli O157:H7 recalls in beef this year, eight of which caused illnesses. That's up from eight recalls last year and no related illnesses.

The rise in recalls and positive E. coli tests for the first time this decade indicate "something has changed," said Richard Raymond, the USDA's undersecretary for food safety.

The USDA now will test meat at large plants about 12 times a year, up from seven. Plants with more problems also will be tested more. Well-run smaller plants may be tested less often than they have been. Before, the USDA tested all beef plants' products about seven times a year.

Meat plants have been required since the late 1990s to have good E. coli controls. Companies had to reassess those plans in 2002. Given conditions at Topps, the USDA says more supervision is needed to ensure compliance and that USDA inspectors can adequately check plants. As of next month, plants must verify that they're effectively controlling E. coli O157:H7. "We can and must do better," Raymond says.

Herb Weisbaum of KOMO 4 TV in Seattle also reported on the state of the meat industry and the USDA's new initiatives.  Notice the last sentence from this excerpt:

As of November, all beef processing plants and slaughter houses will be expected to verify that they are effectively controlling e.coli during processing and slaughter.

Inspectors, who are in meat plants every day, are being retrained to do a better job of making sure proper food safety procedures are being used.

But even the most aggressive testing programs won't catch all the e.coli that could be in the meat. So to be safe, you need to treat all ground beef as if it is contaminated. [emphasis added]

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An E. coli lawsuit was filed today in Minnesota against Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, the meat company whose frozen ground beef products were identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in September and October. The lawsuit was filed in Dakota County District Court on behalf of Dakota County residents Eric and Jennifer Gustafson and their two children, Callie and Carson, who both suffered E. coli infections after eating Cargill ground beef patties at a barbecue in September. Callie’s E. coli infection led to hemolytic uremic syndrome, and she was hospitalized for seven days. 

The Gustafson children’s cases were two of three E. coli cases that triggered an investigation by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture which eventually led to Cargill’s recall of 845,000 pounds of frozen ground beef patties for E. coli contamination on October 6, 2007. The Cargill products were sold at retail establishments, including Sam’s Club, and to restaurants and other institutions throughout the United States. Since the investigation began in Minnesota, E. coli illnesses tied to Cargill ground beef products have been identified in Minnesota (5), Wisconsin (5), North Carolina (2) and Tennessee (3). Many of the E. coli cases involve children or young adults with HUS. According to news reports, children in Minnesota and Tennessee still remain hospitalized in critical condition.

“This is not the first time that Cargill or one of its many subsidiaries has had E. coli-related problems that led to illness,” said William Marler of Marler Clark, the Gustafsons’ attorney, who pointed out that he has represented victims of prior E. coli outbreaks traced to Cargill products. “In 2000, Cargill was implicated as the seller of E. coli-contaminated meat during the Milwaukee Sizzler E. coli outbreak that sickened 60 and killed one young girl. In July 2001, Cargill recalled 200,000 pounds of ground beef after being linked to an illness in Georgia. And again in 2002, Cargill sickened 57 in Wisconsin and Minnesota and recalled over 500,000 pounds of contaminated ground beef.”

Since spring of 2007, nearly 30 million pounds of ground beef has been recalled in the United States. Marler added, “It seems like the wheels are coming off the beef industry. With millions of pounds of meat pulled from shelves and hundreds sickened, there must be a through investigation of an industry clearly out of control.”

BACKGROUND: William Marler has been involved in E. coli cases since the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993, when he won a settlement of $15.6 million for nine-year-old Brianne Kiner. His firm, Marler Clark, has prosecuted dozens of E. coli cases in Minnesota, including those related to the 2007 ground beef E. coli outbreak traced to PM Beef Holdings and Lunds Food Holdings; the 2006 E. coli outbreak stemming from consumption of E. coli-contaminated ground beef produced by Nebraska Beef and sold at Supervalu, then served at a church supper in Longville, Minnesota; the 2006 E. coli outbreak traced to the consumption of Dole brand baby spinach; a 2006 E. coli outbreak at Taco John’s restaurants that was ultimately traced back to E. coli-contaminated lettuce; an E. coli outbreak in 2001 that was traced to a China Buffet restaurant; and an E. coli outbreak in 2000 linked to ground beef produced by AFG and sold by Supervalu and Cub Foods. 

Marler comments on food safety and E. coli outbreaks on his blog, www.marlerblog.com. More about Marler Clark can be found at www.marlerclark.com.

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Marler Clark client Emily McDonald's mom was interviewed for a story that is online on the Albany Times-Union website.  Catherine McDonald expressed her concern that other people might have recalled Topps hamburger patties still in their freezers, and spoke of Emily's illness with Cathleen Crowley, who has interviewed other Marler Clark clients from the Albany region.

One important message that was delivered in the story was the fact that Emily's doctors did not treat her with antibiotics without knowing whether she was suffering from E. coli or not.  The administration of antibiotics is believed to be a potential contributing factor to children developing hemolytic uremic syndrome. 

As Ms. Crowley reported:

Doctors could not give Emily antibiotics or pain killers, which can slow the expulsion of the bacteria from the body and cause more complications, said Josh Schaffzin, the state Department of Health's medical director of the regional epidemiology program.

After 2 days in the hospital and several weeks recovering at home, Emily was able to start school with her third-grade classmates at St. Pius X School in Loudonville. She's returned to her soccer team and is starting saxophone lessons.

"But she'll never eat a hamburger again," her mom said.

The USDA issued an update to the Topps E. coli recall on October 6, highlighting the products included in the expanded recall.

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Topps Meat Company, the company whose ground beef products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak and recalled over 21 million pounds of ground beef in recent weeks, closed today.  Topps Chief Operating Officer Anthony D'Urso, told the Jeff Gold of the Associated Press that a few employees will remain at the processing facility to help USDA scientists investigate the source of the E. coli outbreak, but that the company would not reopen. 

From the AP article:

Topps Meat Co. on Friday said it was closing its business, six days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and 67 years after it first opened its doors.

The decision will cost 87 people their jobs, Topps said.

On Sept. 25 Topps began recalling frozen hamburger patties that may have been contaminated with the E. coli bacteria strain O157:H7. The recall eventually ballooned to 21.7 million pounds of ground beef.

Thirty people in eight states had E. coli infections matching the strain found in the Topps patties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. None have died.

In an article for the New York Times, Kareem Fahim and Andrew Martin reported that USDA officials acknowledged that the recall could have been announced much faster, admitting that a positive E. coli sample from Topps brand meat was identified weeks before the recall was announced.  In the article, David Goldman, who is assistant administrator in the FSIS, stated that, “There is room for improvement,” in the recall process - improvement that food safety advocates have been calling for for years. 

Details on the early warnings USDA had about the outbreak, as reported by the Times, follow:

The Florida case appeared to be among the earliest warnings that Topps burgers might be tainted. On Aug. 17, 15-year-old Samantha Safranek ate a Topps hamburger that her mother bought two days earlier at a Wal-Mart in Broward County. She had cramps two days later and became so ill by Aug. 23 that she was hospitalized. E. coli poisoning was diagnosed on Aug. 26.

The girl’s mother, Ana Safranek, called the federal Department of Agriculture and the Florida Department of Health on Aug. 28. Inspectors removed an open package of Topps frozen burgers from the family’s freezer and sent them to government labs for testing. Those patties tested positive for E. coli on Sept. 7, agriculture officials said.

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