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

Cargill Meat Solutions is voluntarily recalling approximately 1,084,384 pounds of ground beef produced at its Wyalusing, Pa., Cargill Regional Beef facility because of the possible presence of E. coli O157:H7.

Cargill learned of the possibility of contamination after the U.S. Department of Agriculture returned a confirmed positive on a sample of product.

Products subject to recall include:

• Century Farm Ground Beef
• Giant Ground Beef
• Giant Eagle Ground Beef Patties
• Shop Rite Ground Beef
• Stop & Shop Ground Beef
• Wegmans Ground Beef Patties
• Weis Premium Meats Ground Beef
• Price Rite Ground Beef

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Federal investigators are saying that they have recently learned that Topps Meat 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 are not required to be tested for contamination.

There have been 15 E. coli O157:H7 recalls in beef this year, eight of which caused illnesses. The USDA now will test meat at large plants about 12 times a year, up from seven.
 

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The Chicago Tribune reports that the USDA knew of a positive E. coli test from a meat sample and a human sample over two weeks before a recall was initiated in regards to Topps Meat Company.

Amanda Eamich, a USDA spokeswoman, said that the USDA's recall committee first met on Sept. 25 to consider the Topps case, 18 days after E. coli was confirmed in a Topps hamburger, according to Robertson's e-mail, which was provided to the Tribune.

The committee, comprised of department officials, concluded then that it should request a Class I recall of the Topps meat. Class I is the USDA's most serious recall class. It means that there is "a reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems or death."
 

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A lawsuit has been filed 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

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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.
 

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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.

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."
  
   

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A lot has happened since the largest ground beef recall in U.S. history, including a significant decline in E. coli contamination and illnesses. Since 1996, E. coli cases have trended downward, but in 2004 and 2006, E. coli cases are back up.

In April, the United States Department of Agriculture began testing beef trimmings - the meat that goes into ground beef - for E. coli contamination.  The testing is done before trimmings leave the slaughterhouse to be processed at a grinding operation.

Packing plants also are encouraged to hold onto ground beef until E. coli tests are returned and are confirmed as positive, Raymond said, a process that could take a day. The USDA offers to cut back on some of its other inspections if plants agree to wait for results.

E. coli outbreaks traced back to ground beef continue to happen, but the significant decline in illnesses is a tribute to the industry's efforts to clean up.  The recent up-tick in E. coli cases traced to contaminated produce are cause for concern.  Like the beef industry, the produce industry must implement an effective industry-wide approach at curbing E. coli contamination to keep the number of cases - and outbreaks - down.
 

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