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

Three students from Wisconsin and two North Carolina children were added to the number of E. coli illnesses caused by consumption of E. coli-contaminated ground beef patties produced by Cargill and sold by Sam's Club today.  The students, from Marquette in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, all ate hamburgers served at a cookout before a soccer game on campus, according to news reports.  The children, from Durham and Orange Counties in North Carolina, had both attended a cookout where hamburgers were served, according to public health officials.

And in Great Falls, Montana, the Great Falls Tribune published an editorial that focused on the recent recalls and meat safety.  Excerpts from the editorial follow.  First, the writer focuses on the large number of recalls - and not just food recalls - impacting Americans today:

Can you ever recall so many recalls?

What's most disturbing is that, with both the tainted toys and the ground beef, children are those most threatened by the health hazards. That and the fact that the products found their way to so many American toy boxes and dinner plates before consumers were alerted to the risk.

The headlines hit home again in Great Falls Saturday when Sam's Club stores recalled ground beef patties contaminated by E. coli bacteria. After four Minnesota children were sickened by the tainted meat, Sam's Club pulled more than 840,000 pounds of patties nationwide.

Then, the writer addresses the fact that in the Topps case, federal investigators and Topps were aware that there was E. coli contamination in Topps meats for weeks before the product was recalled:

We understand the agency's hesitancy to order truckloads of fresh beef to the landfill. The recall shut down the Topps plant in Newark, N.J., a family business established in 1940. Some 87 people lost their jobs.

The ripple effect may even be felt here in cattle country as the most finicky consumers cut beef patties from their grocery lists, at least for a while.

But the agency's bottom line is the protection of human and animal health, not protection of the marketplace. And consumer trust in beef products is worth more than the fallout from one recall, no matter how damaging.

The editorial concludes with a suggestion that consumers start using meat thermometers to determine whether their hamburgers and other beef products are cooked to a temperature hot enough to kill E. coli O157:H7 and other pathogens, but in all reality, E. coli shouldn't be getting in ground beef to begin with.

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Mark Johnson reported in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this morning that at least five Wisconsinites have been diagnosed with E. coli recently, and that health officials are working to determine whether the Wisconsin cases have a link to earlier cases reported in Minnesota that were traced back to consumption of E. coli-contaminated hamburgers produced by Cargill and sold at Sam's Club.

One of the victims, an 18-year-old Milwaukee woman, has been confirmed to be suffering from an E. coli infection induced by the same strain of E. coli found in Minnesota children who ate Cargill-brand hamburgers and became ill.  The other cases are under investigation and more lab tests are pending.  All attended a private function before becoming ill.  According to the Journal-Sentinel:

Milwaukee Health Commissioner Bevan K. Baker announced Monday that the local E. coli cases were among five in Wisconsin that officials are investigating for possible links to the Minnesota cases. The 18-year-old woman linked to the Minnesota cases is the only Wisconsin person whom officials have described. Baker would not disclose the ages, genders or conditions of any of the other state residents sickened by E. coli.

Baker did say that more tests are being conducted to determine whether any of the other Wisconsin cases share the same strain of E. coli as the Minnesota cases.

The reports of E. coli cases in Wisconsin first surfaced late last week. The meat involved was said to have been purchased from retailers, including Sam's Club, Biedrzycki said.

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The Minnesota Department of Health announced today that ground beef patties purchased from Sam's Club stores in Minnesota during August and September had been identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak.  According to the press release issued by the Department of Health, the hamburger patties purchased from Sam's Club stores in Eagan, Maple Grove and White Bear Lake have been implicated as the cause of illness.  Further information provided in the press release includes the following:

State health and agriculture officials are investigating four cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Minnesota residents associated with eating ground beef patties purchased from Sam’s Club stores in August and September.

Routine monitoring by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) found that the cases of illness were caused by E. coli O157:H7 with the same DNA fingerprint. All four cases were related to pre-made frozen ground beef patties purchased at Sam’s Club stores in the Twin Cities metro area. The people became ill between September 10 and 20 after consuming the meat. The brand name of the implicated frozen ground beef patties was “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.”

All four cases were children. Two of the cases developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and were hospitalized. One case has been discharged and one remains hospitalized.

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