California Company Recalls Ground Beef
The Sterling Pacific Meat Co. of City of Commerce, California, has announced an E. coli ground beef recall of 3,516 pounds of hamburger patties intended for restaurant use. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says the products — made on May 18 — may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 - – a potentially deadly pathogen.
According to the FSIS, no illnesses have been linked to the Sterling Pacific beef patties, which were sold to wholesalers for use in restaurants under the brand names Fatburger and Cattleman’s Choice. The FSIS said it has no reason to believe the patties were ever sold at retail. Records show they were sold to restaurants in California and Arizona.
Those restaurants need to clear their freezers of the products, which bear the USDA Establishment No. 550 printed on the Mark of Inspection. According to the FSIS recall notice, the affected packages include 20- and 10-pound packages of Fatburger patties and various styles of 12-pound packages of Cattleman’s Choice patties.
Retail Store List for Ground Beef E. coli Outbreak
By Kathy Will
Our national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is compiling a list of retail stores known to have sold beef products recalled in the ground beef E. coli outbreak associated with JBS Swift Beef Co.
The Greeley, Colorado, plant of JBS Swift has recalled 421,000 pounds of beef, much of it destined to be store-packaged ground beef sold on foam trays covered in plastic wrap. The initial recall was nearly a week ago and neither the company nor the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), which regulates the U.S. meat supply, has provided consumers with an accessible list of places where the potentially deadly beef was distributed for retail sale.
Fred Pritzker, president and founder of Pritzker Olsen, has been critical of the omission. “In a day and age when you can track a personal package from your computer, minute-by-minute, you would think five days after a serious recall the public could know where potentially deadly meat ended up,” Pritzker said in a published editorial.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 23 people in nine states are believed to have been sickened by the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7. At least a dozen patients were hospitalized and two suffered a dangerous complication known as HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Beef Recall Spurred by Fear of Kroger E. coli Outbreak
By David Szerlag
Kroger stores, Smith’s Food and Drug Stores, Fry’s Stores and Food 4 Less Stores in Illninois and Indiana are recalling certain ground beef products out of concern they may be contaminated by E. coli O157:H7.
The Kroger recall was undertaken because one of the chain’s beef suppliers is JBS Swift Beef Co. of Colorado. The JBS Swift E. coli outbreak was announced last week after federal health investigators made a connection between some of the company’s product and 18 E. coli O157:H7 infections.
Kroger said in a press release that some of its store brand ground beef and store-packaged ground beef was made from meat supplied by JBS Swift. The Kroger recall includes certain hamburger items with sell-by dates ranging from April 27 to June 1, 2009. At Smith’s Food and Drug Stores, the recall covers ball tip steak petite cuts, ground beef, cube steak, beef for fondue, beef fajita meat and beef for stir fry. In the Smith’s stores, the range of affected sell-by dates is May 5 to May 24, 2009.
The recall affects Kroger chain customers in the following areas: Greater Cincinnati, including Dayton; northern Kentucky; southeastern Indiana; Greater Memphis; Arkansas; Mississippi; Illinois and eastern Missouri.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys has filed a Kroger lawsuit on behalf of a victim of a 2008 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to Kroger ground beef.
Nestle E. coli Outbreak Update
By Pritzker Olsen
Today, June 30, 2009, the CDC reported additional illnesses associated with consumption of Nestle refrigerated cookie dough. Also, FDA found E. coli in an unopened package of Nestle Toll House cookie dough that was in Nestle’s Danville, Virginia, plant.
The following is information from the CDC:
CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to investigate an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections.
As of Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 72 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 30 states. Of these, 51 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arizona (2), California (3), Colorado (6), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (2), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (1), Montana (1), North Carolina (2), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), New York (1), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (4), Virginia (2), Washington (6), and Wisconsin (1).
Ill persons range in age from 2 to 65 years; however, 65% are less than 19 years old; 71% are female. Thirty-four persons have been hospitalized, 10 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS); none have died. Reports of these infections increased above the expected baseline in May and continue into June.
Investigation of the OutbreakIn an epidemiologic study, ill persons answered questions about foods consumed during the days before becoming ill and investigators compared their responses to those of persons of similar age and gender previously reported to State Health Departments with other illnesses. Preliminary results of this investigation indicate a strong association with eating raw prepackaged cookie dough. Most patients reported eating refrigerated prepackaged Nestle Toll House cookie dough products raw.
On June 29, 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that a culture of a sample of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough currently under recall yielded E. coli O157:H7. The contaminated sample was collected at the firm on June 25, 2009. Further laboratory testing is underway to determine whether the E. coli strain in the product matched the strain causing the outbreak.
E. coli O157:H7 has not been previously associated with eating raw cookie dough. CDC, the state health departments, and federal regulatory partners are working together in this ongoing investigation.
Clinical FeaturesMost people infected with E. coli O157:H7 develop diarrhea (often bloody) and abdominal cramps 2-8 days (average of 3-4 days) after swallowing the organism, but some illnesses last longer and are more severe. Infection is usually diagnosed by culture of a stool sample. Most people recover within a week, but some develop a severe infection. A type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) can begin as the diarrhea is improving; this can occur in people of any age but is most common in children under 5 years old and the elderly.
E. coli in Nestle Cookie Dough
By Kathy Will
The FDA has found E. coli O157:H7 in an unopened package of Nestle Toll House cookie dough. According to a Nestle news release:
Nestlé USA’s Baking Division was informed today by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it has found and confirmed evidence of E. coli 0157:H7 in a retained production sample of 16.5 oz. Nestlé Toll House refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough bar. The product has a day code of 9041 and a “Best before 10 JUN 2009” notation.
Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough has been associated with an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 69 people in 29 states, according to the CDC:
69 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 29 states. Of these, 46 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arizona (2), California (3), Colorado (5), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (3), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (1), Montana (1), North Carolina (2), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (6), and Wisconsin (1).
E. coli Outbreak Prompts JBS Swift Recall
By Kathy Will
An E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 18 people has been associated with JBS Swift Beef Company beef products. In response to this outbreak, JBS Swift issued a recall of 380,000 pounds of beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
The recalled JBS Swift Beef products were produced on April 21, 2009 and were distributed both nationally and internationally to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing.
The recalled products include intact cuts of beef, such as primals, sub-primals, or boxed beef typically used for steaks and roasts rather than ground beef. FSIS is aware that some of these products may have been further processed into ground products by other companies. The highest risk products for consumers are raw ground product, trim or other non-intact product made from the products subject to the recall.
Neither JSB Swift Beef nor the USDA has provided consumers with a list of establishments or retail stores involved in this recall. This means that consumers have to contact their point of purchase to determine if beef they consumed or beef they are storing is part of this JBS Swift recall.
Legally, establishments (restaurants, etc.) and retailers that then sold the products (whether further processed or not) may be liable, along with JBS Swift, to the E. coli victims and their families for any of the following:
- Medical expenses
- Lost Income
- Pain and suffering (includes amounts for physical pain, emotional distress, disability, and loss of quality of life).
The June 24 JBS Swift recall involved JBS Swift beef distributed to establishments and retailers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with E. coli, please contact our national E. coli litigation law firm:
- 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or
- Submit our free consultation form.
