The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced 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.
The agency also announced 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.
Topps has 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.