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

The year 2007 is going to be remembered for the big beef recalls due to E. coli returning with a vengeance. All totaled meat producers were forced to recall over 33.3 million pounds of beef products.

Topping the list was the 21.7 million pound recall due to E. coli that sent the New Jersey-based Topps Foods into bankruptcy. When United Food Group in June was forced to recall 5.7 million pounds of E. coli-laced ground beef, no one would have guessed it was going to lead to a second half of 2007 that found E. coli in beef just like the bad old days.

E. coli forced the recall of 3.3 million pounds of Totino’s and Jeno’s frozen meat pizzas. In two separate recalls, Cargill had to recall over 1.9 million pounds of beef they had contaminated with the deadly E. coli pathogen.

Most of the big recalls of 2007 remain on the active case list of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The percentage of recalled products actually returned to manufacturers is often pretty low.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert due to illnesses from Salmonella Newport associated with fresh ground beef products contaminated with multi-drug resistant Salmonella that may have been ground and sold at Safeway supermarkets in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5, 2007.

This public health alert was initiated after epidemiological investigations and a case control study conducted by the California Department of Public Health, Arizona Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determined that there is an association between the fresh ground beef products and 38 illnesses reported in Arizona (16), California (18), Idaho (1) and Nevada (3). The illnesses were linked through the epidemiological investigation by their rare PFGE pattern found in PulseNet, a database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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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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Cargill Meat Solutions Recalls Ground Beef - Action due to E. coli O157:H7 contamination

According to Cargill and FSIS press releases: Cargill Meat Solutions said it 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. The ground beef products subject to recall were produced at the Wyalusing plant between Oct. 8 and 11, 2007, and were distributed to retailers nationwide.  Cargill learned of the possibility of contamination after the U.S. Department of Agriculture returned a confirmed positive on a sample of product produced Oct. 8, 2007.

Each package or label bears the establishment number “Est. 9400” inside the USDA mark of inspection. As the use/freeze-by dates for products subject to this recall have expired, consumers are urged to look in their freezers for these products and return or discard them if found.  In addition to the below listed products, there are various weights and varieties of ground beef, ground chuck, and ground sirloin product that were distributed for further processing and repackaging and will not bear the same establishment number on the package.  I love this logo from the Cargill website:

Products subject to recall are:

    
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1- pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Ground Beef Patty.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 85/15 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3-pound packages of “Century Farm 90/10 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 90/10 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 90/10 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 93/7 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Century Farm 96/4 Extra Lean Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/31/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Century Farm 85/15 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 93/7 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Chuck Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm 80/20 Chuck Ground Beef for Chili.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Century Farm Meatloaf Mix, Beef, Pork and Veal with Natural Flavors.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007, 10/22/2007, 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.25- pound packages of “Giant 75/25 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3.0- pound packages of “Giant 75/25 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Giant 80/20 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Giant 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Chuck Beef Patties 80/20.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Beef Patties 92/8.” Use by/freeze by 10/22/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Beef Patties 85/15 – Certified Angus Beef Brand.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Giant Eagle Ground Round Beef Patties 85/15.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 80% Lean 20% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 3.0-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 85% Lean 15% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 93% Lean 7% Fat, Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 93% Lean 7% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Shop Rite, 96% Lean 4% Fat, Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.25- pound packages of “Stop & Shop 75/25 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 5.0- pound packages of “Stop & Shop 75/25 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 85/15 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.2-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 87/13 Ground Beef Sirloin, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1- pound packages of “Stop & Shop 90/10 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.0-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 2.6-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 80/20 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 90/10 Ground Beef Patties, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 2.5-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 90/10 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 2.5-pound packages of “Stop & Shop 93/7 Ground Beef, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Wegmans 80/20 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Wegmans 90/10 Ground Beef Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 3.0- pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats, 73/27 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1- pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats, 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 3- pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats, 80/20 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007 & 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 85/15 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 2.0 and 3.0 -pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 85/15 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 2-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 93/7 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 93/7 Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 96/4 Ground Beef Extra Lean.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 90/10 Ground Beef Sirloin Patties.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats Meatloaf Mix, Beef, Pork and Veal with Natural Flavors.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Weis Premium Meats 80/20 Ground Beef for Chili.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Meat Loaf Mix, Made with Beef, Pork, Veal, with Natural Flavors.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.25-pound packages of “Meatloaf Mix, A Blend of Fresh Ground Beef, Pork & Veal, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* Various weight packages of “85/15 Coarse Ground Beef for Chili Meat, All Natural.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/2007
* 1.3-pound packages of “Ground Beef Chuck for Chili 80/20.” Use by/freeze by 10/19/2007 & 10/22/2007
* 1.3 pound packages of “Price Rite 85% Lean, 15% Fat Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3 pound packages of “Price Rite 80% Lean, 20% Fat Ground Beef.” Use by/freeze by 11/03/2007
* 1.3 pound packages of “Price Rite Meat loaf mix.” Use by/freeze by 10/31/207 & 11/03/2007

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Associated Press reporter Jeff Gold authored a story that appeared in today's issue of Newsday and focuses on the inefficiencies and holes in the Topps Meats E. coli recall.  The story begins:

Meat recalled a month ago that could be contaminated with a potentially fatal bacteria was found in seven northern New Jersey stores, state consumer safety officials said Tuesday.

Inspectors in the past week have seized 138 boxes of frozen hamburgers made by Topps Meat Co., which issued a nationwide recall on Sept. 29 for 21.7 million pounds of frozen patties.

State authorities have not determined when the meat was delivered to the stores.

Four of the stores, all in Jersey City, were located after a distributor was subpoenaed by the state Division of Consumer Affairs and provided shop names and locations, agency spokesman Jeff Lamm said.

Inspectors found the other three while visiting nearly 200 stores in Hudson County, he said.

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 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.

The recalled products were sold under Topps brand as well as Pathmark, ShopRite, Mike's, Kohler Foods, Rastelli's Fine Foods, Roma-Topps, Sam's Choice, Sand Castle, and West Side labels. All recalled products will have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748 on the back panel of the package or in the USDA logo.

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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 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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The Maine Department of Agriculture announced that Bubier Meats was recalling meat products for potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination on May 2, 2007.  Products subject to the recall are: 

•  2 whole sides of beef carcasses-736 lbs stamped “Est. 4”
• 45 plastic cryovac bags @ 10 lbs-450 lbs of beef labeled Bubier Meats “Hamburg” (no product code available)
• 30 plastic cryovac bags @ 10 lbs-300 lbs of ground beef labeled “Caldwell Farms Beef All Natural Beef” (code 647) [Important: "Certified Organic Beef" not affected]
• 450 lbs of beef primal cuts labeled “Caldwell Farms Beef All Natural Beef” [Important: "Certified Organic Beef" not affected]

In an article for the Knox County Times, reporter Holly Anderson wrote that plant officials said the recall was related not to E. coli contamination, but to paperwork issues.  However:

Hal Prince, director of the Department of Agriculture's division of Quality Assurance and Regulation, said that while paperwork is one concern, an inspector found contamination.

"In doing a preprocessing inspection, the inspector found fecal contamination on equipment," said Prince. "Half of the suspect product was still in the freezer, but half had been shipped already so we sought the recall as a matter of safety."

The following Bubier Meats labels, could help consumers identify recalled products.

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